Obligations - Ex-wife being irresponsible

[boshuda2004]

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

This is just one more item in a countless list of things that my ex-wife is driving me crazy about.

Here is the situation:

- BEFORE DIVORCE: my wife and I had a small business. We had a business (credit) card which was under her name only. Since I was running most of the business, I was taking care of the finances, which included paying off the monthly balance on the card.

- DIVORCE AGREEMENT says the following:"As part of the division of community property Husband shall pay and hold Wife harmless from all community or joint obligations of the parties, including, without limitation:
(3) Capital One Business Visa (Company Name) (Account number)"


- AFTER DIVORCE FINALIZED: I paid the balance in full on the credit card that was under my ex-wife's name. I let her know and told her to contact Capital One right away to close the account.
She told me she did. A couple months later, there was a bill from Capital One in the mail (that I received since she never made her address change) showing a $29 balance on the card (it was the annual renewal fee). Obviously she had never closed the account and canceled the card. Again, I reminded her to call right away, to have the charge removed and the account closed. I have emails to prove that I reminded her.
She didn't do anything.
Today, almost 1 year after the divorce was finalized, she calls me and asks me to take care of the charges on the credit card so that she can close the account. The amount owed has increased because she never made a payment and therefore she was charge a $15 late fee per month + interests. Now the balance is over $100.

The amount is insignificant to me. That's not the problem here. But as a principle, I don't feel that I should pay.

I told her I will not pay. I already paid the balance in full right after the divorce and all she had to do was to call Capital One and close the account. It would have taken 5 minutes of her time. Problem solved.

She now tells me it is my responsibility (making reference to the divorce agreement) and threaten to take me to court if I fail to pay.

I know it's pathetic but that can give you an idea of the rest.

What do you guys think? Can she really take me to court? What would a judge say? I can pay the bill again but I have no guarantee she will cancel. She might come back in one year with the same story...

Thanks!

 

[ecmst12]

Why didn't YOU cancel the account?

 

[sandyclaus]

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

This is just one more item in a countless list of things that my ex-wife is driving me crazy about.

Here is the situation:

- BEFORE DIVORCE: my wife and I had a small business. We had a business (credit) card which was under her name only. Since I was running most of the business, I was taking care of the finances, which included paying off the monthly balance on the card.

- DIVORCE AGREEMENT says the following:"As part of the division of community property Husband shall pay and hold Wife harmless from all community or joint obligations of the parties, including, without limitation:
(3) Capital One Business Visa (Company Name) (Account number)"


- AFTER DIVORCE FINALIZED: I paid the balance in full on the credit card that was under my ex-wife's name. I let her know and told her to contact Capital One right away to close the account.
She told me she did. A couple months later, there was a bill from Capital One in the mail (that I received since she never made her address change) showing a $29 balance on the card (it was the annual renewal fee). Obviously she had never closed the account and canceled the card. Again, I reminded her to call right away, to have the charge removed and the account closed. I have emails to prove that I reminded her.
She didn't do anything.
Today, almost 1 year after the divorce was finalized, she calls me and asks me to take care of the charges on the credit card so that she can close the account. The amount owed has increased because she never made a payment and therefore she was charge a $15 late fee per month + interests. Now the balance is over $100.

The amount is insignificant to me. That's not the problem here. But as a principle, I don't feel that I should pay.

I told her I will not pay. I already paid the balance in full right after the divorce and all she had to do was to call Capital One and close the account. It would have taken 5 minutes of her time. Problem solved.

She now tells me it is my responsibility (making reference to the divorce agreement) and threaten to take me to court if I fail to pay.

I know it's pathetic but that can give you an idea of the rest.

What do you guys think? Can she really take me to court? What would a judge say? I can pay the bill again but I have no guarantee she will cancel. She might come back in one year with the same story...

Thanks!

Sure she could take you to court over it. But chances are, since it would be considered a contempt charge, it would cost her more than the $100 to actually sue you over this.

What you need to do is verify the balance due and owing at the time the divorce was finalized, and have proof of the payment you made to pay off that balance. As far as the court is concerned, that should show that you have complied with that clause in your divorce decree. After that point, it was no longer a business or joint obligation, and you would simply need to point out her duty to mitigate the damages by closing the account, and the fact that the additional amounts resulted only from your wife's failure to close the account.

If she does try to bring you to court for contempt, be sure to let her know that you will be having your own attorney handle this for you and asking that the court hold her liable for the attorney fees and costs you have to incur to fight this.

 

[mistoffolees]

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

This is just one more item in a countless list of things that my ex-wife is driving me crazy about.

Here is the situation:

- BEFORE DIVORCE: my wife and I had a small business. We had a business (credit) card which was under her name only. Since I was running most of the business, I was taking care of the finances, which included paying off the monthly balance on the card.

- DIVORCE AGREEMENT says the following:"As part of the division of community property Husband shall pay and hold Wife harmless from all community or joint obligations of the parties, including, without limitation:
(3) Capital One Business Visa (Company Name) (Account number)"


- AFTER DIVORCE FINALIZED: I paid the balance in full on the credit card that was under my ex-wife's name. I let her know and told her to contact Capital One right away to close the account.
She told me she did. A couple months later, there was a bill from Capital One in the mail (that I received since she never made her address change) showing a $29 balance on the card (it was the annual renewal fee). Obviously she had never closed the account and canceled the card. Again, I reminded her to call right away, to have the charge removed and the account closed. I have emails to prove that I reminded her.
She didn't do anything.
Today, almost 1 year after the divorce was finalized, she calls me and asks me to take care of the charges on the credit card so that she can close the account. The amount owed has increased because she never made a payment and therefore she was charge a $15 late fee per month + interests. Now the balance is over $100.

The amount is insignificant to me. That's not the problem here. But as a principle, I don't feel that I should pay.

I told her I will not pay. I already paid the balance in full right after the divorce and all she had to do was to call Capital One and close the account. It would have taken 5 minutes of her time. Problem solved.

She now tells me it is my responsibility (making reference to the divorce agreement) and threaten to take me to court if I fail to pay.

I know it's pathetic but that can give you an idea of the rest.

What do you guys think? Can she really take me to court? What would a judge say? I can pay the bill again but I have no guarantee she will cancel. She might come back in one year with the same story...

Thanks!

For starters, I reviewed your posting history. You are caught up in a game of seeing who can screw the other one the worst. Fighting over every little thing is not good for anyone - and especially not the children.

Can she sue? Sure. Anyone can sue for just about anything.

Can she win? Who knows? Unless the court order specifically told her to close the account, she didn't legally do anything wrong. You could argue (probably convincingly) that it was her responsibility to close the account and that she should pay it. And since the account is solely in her name, you are not hurting your credit rating.

But here's the deal. if you end up in court over this, you're going to spend many times the $100 to settle the matter. Heck, the attorney's fees alone could easily exceed $1,000 without too much difficulty - simply for court time. So, do you want to be right or do you want to be broke?

What I would do is tell her that when she shows you a letter stating that the account has been closed, you will reimburse the fee.

 

[sandyclaus]

Why didn't YOU cancel the account?

In his post, you will see that the account is SOLELY in the wife's name, and he would not have had authorization to actually close the account.

 

[boshuda2004]

Why didn't YOU cancel the account?

Good question!
I tried. I called Capital One at the time. They would not let me do it because my name was not on the account. They said they needed to talk to the primary account holder (my ex) in order to close the account. Which is why I asked her (both on the phone and via email) to call herself and close the account.

 

[ecmst12]

Have her call and cancel the account and you can pay the charges after it's cancelled. Or have her call and give you permission to cancel the account after you pay the charges.

 

[boshuda2004]

Have her call and cancel the account and you can pay the charges after it's cancelled. Or have her call and give you permission to cancel the account after you pay the charges.

Yes, but I disagree with that.
These charges are the direct result of her failing to close the account.

 

[ecmst12]

Do you want to solve the problem or do you want to argue about it for a few more years?

 

[boshuda2004]

Do you want to solve the problem or do you want to argue about it for a few more years?

Well, I thought I had solved the problem a year ago when I paid the full balance and politely asked her to call to cancel the account.
How much more can I do?

When this issue is addressed, there will be something else. And again, from my ex's point of view, it will be my responsibility to fix it.
At some point, I need to stand up and say no more.
This whole thing is not really about hurting each other. It's about her being irresponsible and blaming me for things she could fix herself in the blink of an eye if she really wanted to.

 

[boshuda2004]

What you need to do is verify the balance due and owing at the time the divorce was finalized, and have proof of the payment you made to pay off that balance. As far as the court is concerned, that should show that you have complied with that clause in your divorce decree.

That's really good advice, thank you!

Indeed I have the proof of payments. I have credit card statements showing that the balance was fully paid after the divorce was finalized. Then I have emails showing that I asked her to call the credit card company to close the account. Finally I have the latest statements showing that 100% of the current balance is the result of late fees / interests on the renewal fee that would have never occurred if she has cancel the account in time.

 

[ecmst12]

Well, the card is in her name, so until she takes you to court, it's her problem. Either work with her to solve the problem, or tell her to pound sand and ignore further communication on the subject. Either way, give up the drama.

 

[boshuda2004]

Either way, give up the drama.

Thank you! Good advice as well.
That's actually my only new year resolution. No more drama.

 

[Bali Hai]

Well, I thought I had solved the problem a year ago when I paid the full balance and politely asked her to call to cancel the account.
How much more can I do?

When this issue is addressed, there will be something else. And again, from my ex's point of view, it will be my responsibility to fix it.
At some point, I need to stand up and say no more.
This whole thing is not really about hurting each other. It's about her being irresponsible and blaming me for things she could fix herself in the blink of an eye if she really wanted to.

I agree with you, the issue is about her being irresponsible and a system set up to blame you for it.