Left me in debt

[WEAZZER]

From Fla: I lived with my fiance for 7 years. We
both paid bills but because I always made more money I always wound up paying for more. We always rented and the lease was in both our names as was several charge accounts, etc.
We signed our last lease on July 1st and he left to move in with another woman on July 27th leaving me to pay out a years lease by myself. Does he owe me for 1/2? He was just married to the girl he moved in with. I don't want to be bitchy cause they truly deserve each other and both of us have found our true loves now, but he left me with a serious debt problem. What are my rights

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

From Fla: I lived with my fiance for 7 years. We
both paid bills but because I always made more money I always wound up paying for more. We always rented and the lease was in both our names as was several charge accounts, etc.
We signed our last lease on July 1st and he left to move in with another woman on July 27th leaving me to pay out a years lease by myself. Does he owe me for 1/2? He was just married to the girl he moved in with. I don't want to be bitchy cause they truly deserve each other and both of us have found our true loves now, but he left me with a serious debt problem. What are my rights

My response:

Despite the fact that this has nothing to do with "Family Law" - - having more to do with contract law (See that Forum), I'll give you a quick and accurate answer anyway.

Since both of you signed the lease, you are both liable for that contract.

Therefore, he owes you for his half, up to a reasonable amount of time after he moved out. You see, some judges believe that you have a responsibility to "mitigate" your damages and, as such, are obligated to locate a roommate to take on the added financial burden he left you with. If you attempted, in good faith, to mitigate your damages, but were unable to do so, then he owes you for his total share.

However, different judges see matters like this differently. Some judges will see this as a purely financial and contractual situation; that is, some judges will look at this type of a situation and decide that you had no duty to mitigate damages, and that he's liable for his share no matter what because he signed the lease, which was his promise to pay.

So, it's really a toss-up.

If you take him to Small Claims court in Florida, it won't cost you very much to do so and, who knows, you could come out as the big winner. Give a try. At this point, you have nothing to lose that you haven't already lost in terms of the money involved.

Good luck to you.

IAAL