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Friend's husband racked up debt and fled country

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apple217

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA

I also posted under debt collection, as I am not totally sure which category this Q should go under.

My friend's husband fled the country 9 months ago. She started the divorce process as soon as she could, so they are still legally married. She just recently found out (because creditors began calling her employer) that he racked up about $250k in credit card debt. She never signed anything, like an application, and had no knowledge of any of this. Now her lawyer is saying this is community property and she needs to file for bankruptcy immediately.

My mother's best friend had a similar situation, only the woman's husband is still in the U.S. We called the friend. She said that when she spoke to the people who were calling her, the credit card co's themselves told her that if she never signed anything she was not responsible.

I don't trust my own friend's lawyer at this point. It's really time-consuming and expensive to get a second opinion. She is obvioulsy flat broke at this point! Anyone have any knowledge of this? I am googling and not finding any info on the web, which shocks me. Thank you. :D
 


mistoffolees

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA

I also posted under debt collection, as I am not totally sure which category this Q should go under.

My friend's husband fled the country 9 months ago. She started the divorce process as soon as she could, so they are still legally married. She just recently found out (because creditors began calling her employer) that he racked up about $250k in credit card debt. She never signed anything, like an application, and had no knowledge of any of this. Now her lawyer is saying this is community property and she needs to file for bankruptcy immediately.

My mother's best friend had a similar situation, only the woman's husband is still in the U.S. We called the friend. She said that when she spoke to the people who were calling her, the credit card co's themselves told her that if she never signed anything she was not responsible.

I don't trust my own friend's lawyer at this point. It's really time-consuming and expensive to get a second opinion. She is obvioulsy flat broke at this point! Anyone have any knowledge of this? I am googling and not finding any info on the web, which shocks me. Thank you. :D
If she didn't sign anything, then she's not responsible. She needs to consult with a different attorney. However, there may be more involved than you know. It would be important to understand why her attorney told her otherwise.

Correction:

Ldij is right - my opinion above is incorrect. I forgot about community property rules.

http://www.divorcenet.com/states/california/dividing_the_debts_in_divorce
She's going to be stuck with half of the debt.

If she properly served him with divorce papers, then any amount of debt he accrued in his own name after being served might not be her responsibility, but she needs to check with an attorney.

She might also be able to negotiate with the credit card companies to get them to accept a smaller amount of money in payment for her debt, but they have no obligation to do so - and it's likely to still be a huge amount of money.
 
Last edited:

LdiJ

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA

I also posted under debt collection, as I am not totally sure which category this Q should go under.

My friend's husband fled the country 9 months ago. She started the divorce process as soon as she could, so they are still legally married. She just recently found out (because creditors began calling her employer) that he racked up about $250k in credit card debt. She never signed anything, like an application, and had no knowledge of any of this. Now her lawyer is saying this is community property and she needs to file for bankruptcy immediately.

My mother's best friend had a similar situation, only the woman's husband is still in the U.S. We called the friend. She said that when she spoke to the people who were calling her, the credit card co's themselves told her that if she never signed anything she was not responsible.

I don't trust my own friend's lawyer at this point. It's really time-consuming and expensive to get a second opinion. She is obvioulsy flat broke at this point! Anyone have any knowledge of this? I am googling and not finding any info on the web, which shocks me. Thank you. :D
California is a community property state, therefore her husband's creditors COULD come after her. If she were not in a community property state then she would not be responsible for debts she did not sign for...but a community property state is another story.

Are there any marital assets, or does she have any separate assets? Does she have any idea how much of that debt accumulated during the marriage, or if any of it was premarital?

Her attorney may very well be giving her the best advice. With that much money involved, the creditors are not going to sit still. They are already calling HER employer.

If she decides to get a second opinion, that opinion should come from a bankruptcy attorney.
 

apple217

Junior Member
Thanks for the reponses

Just wanted to say thanks to those who responded. Thanks to some key phrases you mentioned, I did more googling and found some (potentially) useful information. Maybe at this point I should not be so untrusting of her divorce attorney.

I told my friend that since I am no lawyer and I do not know any of the other circumstances, maybe there is more to it and that is why her lawyer is recommending she file for BK. I think one of you mentioned this in you response. I guess I was just trying to figure out the credit card debt stuff. I am still not sure how my mother's friend got away with the credit card companies themselves telling her that she was not responsible for the debt. Maybe those companies did not realize the laws in CA?

Anyway, appreciate the feedback.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
Just wanted to say thanks to those who responded. Thanks to some key phrases you mentioned, I did more googling and found some (potentially) useful information. Maybe at this point I should not be so untrusting of her divorce attorney.

I told my friend that since I am no lawyer and I do not know any of the other circumstances, maybe there is more to it and that is why her lawyer is recommending she file for BK. I think one of you mentioned this in you response. I guess I was just trying to figure out the credit card debt stuff. I am still not sure how my mother's friend got away with the credit card companies themselves telling her that she was not responsible for the debt. Maybe those companies did not realize the laws in CA?

Anyway, appreciate the feedback.
Or perhaps CA law didn't apply for one reason or another.
 

apple217

Junior Member
Hi LdIJ,

Good question. Coincidentally I just hung up with my mother whose friend was in the same situation, as I mentioned earlier. I said, "How is it possible that the credit card companies just let her off the hook?" My mom said, "I don't know. They were located in Maryland."

I wonder if it makes any difference what state the credit card company is domiciled in.
 

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