Spouse not served in debt judgement

[canders19]

What is the name of your state? IL
There is currently a judgement against my spouse and I with Household. We have found out that my wife was not included in the claim and never served. This was discovered as we attended a hearing regarding asset discovery and our bank could not cooperate because we have a joint account. Just curious if there is any recourse here to have the judgement dismissed. We are currently trying to negotiate a payment schedule to pay off the debt.

 

[Debt Guy]

If I understand your question correctly, you might be able to get the judgment vacated as to your wife. I suspect strongly that you will not have grounds for vacation as to yourself (you did not say so but the implication is that you were served).

Most likely, if you were served, then you accepted service for your wife (assuming you live together). That is perfectly legal in most states.

Give it a shot. Go down to the courthouse and ask to see the judgment file. See what it says about service of process. If it is bogus, ask the clerk if they have a form to file for vacation of a judgment based on improper service. If not, ask to see a sample of such a motion and then copy the format.

 

[Chien]

(I couldn't figure out the question. I'll adopt DG's interpretation.)

OP - If there is a judgment against you, would your wife have potentially been liable as well, if she had been named and served? In other words, was this actually a joint debt?

If it was/if she would have been, recognize that she is going to have to be the one to bring the motion and she will have to respond to the Complaint at the same time. If she has no defense against liability, you're spinning your wheels. The creditor will advance the case again and, eventually, you'll have the same result.

That's just if I understand the background, and if there wasn't good service to begin with. It's not to say you shouldn't investigate, but I'm trying to understand your ultimate goal.

 

[canders19]

Sorry for the confusion. A summons was served though not signed for by my wife and I was not present at the time. The summons was for us both to appear in court for the judgement brought against us. I don't know if that helps regarding vacating the judgement. The paralegal for the law firm handling this let it slip that she was not served. This was during a conversation he and I had about negotiating a payment schedule to pay off the debt. I'm trying to get this going as the lawyers had my checking account frozen for an asset discovery hearing and after this hearing found out the bank would not release anything because my wife is on the account. I hope I have not made the confusion worse as I'm just trying to figure out how all this works. Thanks for your replies!

 

[Debt Guy]

Well, you did make it more confusing -- at least to me.

Lets see if I can sort this out.

Every state has rules for service of process. Most states allow service to be made on any adult in the household. That was why I just assumed that you accepted service on her behalf.

You imply this was a joint summons for you both to appear. You say you were not present. You say she was not present and did not sign for it.

If you were not present, then you could not have signed for it either.

So, someone accepted service. How did you come to know about the summons?

Usually, no one signs for the summons. A stranger (the process server) just sticks it in your hands and then goes to file an affidavit with the court that service was accomplished.

Whatever happened, the court was satisifed that service had been accomplished. That does not mean the service met the requirements of the law. The court just makes that assumption unless someone says differently.

As to the comment by the paralegal, well I have no idea what that means.

Here is a link to the state laws for civil procedure: http://www.megalawserve.com/states/rules.php

Read what it says about Illinois. If you think that service was not accomplished, then you need to go down the path I recommended in my first post.

 

[canders19]

I apologize again. I meant my wife was at home when the server came but did not sign the summons. I will take a look at the link you provided and I really appreciate all your help with this.

 

[Debt Guy]

OK. Now it makes more sense.

Check the link I gave you for your state. Most states do not require a signature from the person served.