Divorce and who pays the debts.?

Question

Hi all well i am asking this question on behalf of a relation of mine.

At the weekend he caught his wife sleeping with another man which was devastating to him of coursee. yesterday however he found out that she has run up debts of nearly £3000 (£1200 council tax, £300 rent it goes on..) A lot of the bills are in her name solely like th3 water rates which she has not paid for 2 years!!! as they are married would the debts that she has incurred in her name be her responsibility. You may ask how did he not know but the poor lad suffers with dyslexia and she burnt all the red letters before he got them.

Answer 1

He needs to get a soliciter and explain his dyslexia issues. Because he is married any creditors will also come after him. Even if the debts are in her name. They will go after her first, then him. This can be dealt with via a soliciter quite easily. Go with him your self as you may be able to help with any tricky questions. Good luck.

Answer 2

I am afraid marriage debts are joint debts in the UK.  He needs to get some legal advice.  Fast.  She can still carry on running up debts for both of them.  I bet she has store cards too....  

Answer 3

once either party has left the relationship any debts after that day are there own, all debts prior to that day are shared. the problem is that creditors do not care who they get their money off, they will usually go after whoever is still resident at the property. she also has the added advantage of reverting to her maiden name making it near impossible for creditors to find her especially in private rented accommodation. the sooner its in court the better, the judge can make it so they only pay there own half of the debts. if they have a joint account speak to the bank, remove his name or close the account and open a new one in his name with any monies, wages etc so that she cannot get at them. the sooner the better and good luck

Answer 4

it depends on the financial circumstances of either partner.my husbands ex wife divorced him for adultry with me and she said she would take him to the cleaners.he said providing he kept his pension she could have the house which at that time had about £60,000 equity on it my husbands pension is worth a lump sum of £30,000 and roughly £100 a week as both parties were happy with this to our delight she had to pay the costs which came to around £12,000.so that was a good result for us.any debts she has occurred will be her responsibility i dont think you need to worry.

Answer 5

My wife left me and I was left having to pay our joint debts in addition to the divorce costs.

Answer 6

Are they separated? if so she is responsible for them - if she changes her name she will still have a bad credit rating as it goes by your date of birth and NI number, if they are still together he should seek legal advise or citizens advice bureau because everything is 50/50 until separation - UK law.