Divorce and Bankruptcy

[Kevin Kammerer]

In the state of washington. After divorce, one person files for bankruptcy. now, creditors are calling and harashing the other person for deliquent debts of the filing bankruptcy person. the marriage settlement agreement divided the debt equally between the two and was agreed upon. what are the rights of the second person in regards to the debt collectors. can the debt collectors threaten you and garnish wages? can you get the debt collectors to stop calling at home and work? can you get the filing bankruptcy person to owe up to marrital aggreement? does that mean going back to court?

 

[dorenephilpot]

The state court ordered the payment of certain debts.

However, a federal court came in and relieved one of the parties from obligation for the debt.

Federal law trumps state law.

Furthremore, even though the person has an order from the state court that says he/she doesn't have to pay a debt, the creditor was not a party to that agreement and therefore it is not binding on the creditor.

So, the second person is on the hook for the debt that was also in his/her name.

This scenario plays itself out again and again in divorces.

There are ways to make sure this kind of thing doesn't happen, but they have to be done during the divorce and settlement/final hearing, not afterwards....

 

[jwallen]

My ex and I filed bankruptcy together during our divorce. It works better that way because my lawyer told me about splitting the debt. He said that if we did that, then she could file bankruptcy and leave me holding the bag. So he said, it's better to do it both at the same time and it's less expensive for both. Now there is something else he told me. He advised me that if I filed bankruptcy on my own and left her with the debt, he said that she could come after me for alimony (and probably get it). You might want to contact your lawyer about that...especially if you have custody of the children.