me, my wife, her ex, his debts...

What is the name of your state? Oregon

My wife & I have been summoned to small claims by a debt collector seeking to collect numerous medical bills. On contacting the collection agency they have refused to validate the bills but did let slip at least one is for a debt incurred by my wife's ex husband. I have sent certified mail to the agency requesting copies of all bills. My questions are:

Can i be sued for debts incurred by my wife's ex husband during their marriage?

Can she be sued for debts incurred by him after their divorce?

If the collection agency continue to not validate the debts can we ask for the claim to be dismissed?

At least one debt claimed (a small % of the total) belongs to my wife. How should we handle that?

Is there any action I can take (presuming their action against me is unlawful) against the collection agency for distress or time/effort taken to investigate this, by way of counterclaim or issuing my own summons?

Thanks, Jon.

"Can i be sued for debts incurred by my wife's ex husband during their marriage?"
*** Yes, you can be sued for almost anything by almost anyone. The issue here is are you LIABLE for that debt?? And based solely on your post, the answer would be.... not unless you signed the agreement to be responsible for payment.

"Can she be sued for debts incurred by him after their divorce?"
*** See above.

"If the collection agency continue to not validate the debts can we ask for the claim to be dismissed?"
*** If you have properly requested validation of the debt from a 3rd party debt collector and they either refuse or are unable to validate the debt as being yours, then they are prohibited from ANY collection efforts until such time as they comply with your validation request. This is provided in the FDCPA - Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.




At least one debt claimed (a small % of the total) belongs to my wife. How should we handle that?

Is there any action I can take (presuming their action against me is unlawful) against the collection agency for distress or time/effort taken to investigate this, by way of counterclaim or issuing my own summons?