Dr. Judith Gerhart, CFP
Certified Divorce Financial Analyst 
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Handling Divorce Debt
November 19, 2008
The ONLY way to ensure your future financial health is to get the collections REMOVED from the report. If you can show that the debt was assigned, by a Judge, to the ex, the collection agency has little ground to make the argument that you owe it. They would have to back it up in court, the same county most likely where the Judge assigned it to you ex. They know they will not prevail in court, so they are much more likely to compromise.
IF the debt was assigned to the ex, and he hasn’t paid it, the quickest way fix it is to make a deal with the collection agency to pay it under the written promise they will remove the listing in its entirety, not just list it as paid. Then you can take that receipt to the Judge, with the order that the ex pay it, and turn it into a Judgment so you can attach property or wages for repayment.
In my profession, I do see husbands who refuse to pay or cannot pay these debts. I also see wives who run up the tabs on the cards prior to filing for divorce, and the husbands getting stuck with the bill. Divorce can be a devastating nightmare, or it can be worked through by both parties towards a Sustainable Settlement. Neither party should be financial ruined, but both parties should understand that a lifestyle previously shared by one household, cannot support two.
By: Adryenn Neuenburg 2005
Posted by Judith Gerhart on November 19, 2008 | Permalink | Post a comment
Topics: Divorce, Finance, Tips |
