debt responsibility

[west1959]

What is the name of your state? Tennessee
I am thinking of filing for divorce and my husband wants to sell our house and split what equity there is but I have 27,000.00 in student loans that I took out to help buy this house and pay family expenses while I attended school. Is he responsible to help pay that back? Or am I stuck with it while he spends his share of the house sale?

 

[Ohiogal]

What is the name of your state? Tennessee
I am thinking of filing for divorce and my husband wants to sell our house and split what equity there is but I have 27,000.00 in student loans that I took out to help buy this house and pay family expenses while I attended school. Is he responsible to help pay that back? Or am I stuck with it while he spends his share of the house sale?

You are kidding me. YOU TOOK OUT STUDENT LOANS TO BUY A HOUSE? That is not what those are for. They are for school. You got the education from them. That is what those pay for. Personally student loans should be your responsibility. If he has to pay the student loans then he is also entitled to a portion of what those loans purchased -- your future earning capacity due to your education. Make a trade.

 

[west1959]

debt responsiblity

I might agree with you but my grants paid for my education the loans were to pay bills because he did not work more than he did and I hads to pay bills and take care of my children while I went to school. It was his idea to do this and I wanted to go back to school so badly I foolishly listened to him?

 

[LdiJ]

I might agree with you but my grants paid for my education the loans were to pay bills because he did not work more than he did and I hads to pay bills and take care of my children while I went to school. It was his idea to do this and I wanted to go back to school so badly I foolishly listened to him?

Well...you do have some argument since the money when towards supporting the marriage...however I don't know if a judge will see it that way or not. You can certainly try if he won't agree to be responsible for 1/2 of the debt.

 

[west1959]

debt responsiblity

So really i have no legal way to make hime share the debt?

 

[LdiJ]

So really i have no legal way to make hime share the debt?

Not without getting a judge to order him to share the debt....unless he co-signed the loan with you.

 

[west1959]

debt responsiblity

These are government loans and when I called the school they said he would not have signed with me, but I could have sworn he signed something when i was getting this stuff? So a judge could rule in the divorce that he has to pay?

 

[pjjones]

yes, this should be marital debt

So really i have no legal way to make hime share the debt?

If the student loans were incurred during marriage, which it sounds like they were, they would be marital debt. Tennessee is an equitable distribution state, meaning that generally each spouse gets half the assets and the debts, so he should be responsible for paying back half the student loans.