Need some answers

[JamesW1]

I had to file bankruptcy due to a divorce. I became responsible for every account we had.

One of the cc accounts had both are names on it. I was discharged of that debt and now they are coming after her for the money.

I received a call from her saying she is going to sue me if I do not pay it off.

Would she be able to sue me and win even though I am discharged of that debt?

[tunskit]

I'm not 100% sure, but I'd say she is SOL (and I don't mean statute of limitations ). She will probably have to pay it, take a charge-off, or file BK herself. Whatever she does, I don't think it's your problem any longer. Someone who has been through the divorce thing can tell you for certain, but I've never read anywhere that BK discharges debt, except in divorce.

[TEW]

I had to file bankruptcy due to a divorce. I became responsible for every account we had.

One of the cc accounts had both are names on it. I was discharged of that debt and now they are coming after her for the money.

I received a call from her saying she is going to sue me if I do not pay it off.

Would she be able to sue me and win even though I am discharged of that debt?

Looks like you only thought you were responsible for that debt. Once you are discharged those creditors are permanently enjoined from collecting those debts from you. What is she going to sue you for? Filing BK?

[KKAB]

When my hubby's ex filed BK we were listed as a creditor because of a cc they both had together and she was responsible for it. We fought it tooth and nail and made her bk miserable- we were the only "creditor" who showed up at the 341. We ended up settling with the cc company for the amount we got because hers was an asset case. I think she'll be wasting her time trying to sue you. Why else would you be filing bk if you had money to pay the debt. Perhaps this is one of those things where different laws apply to different states though!

[Flamingo]

I had to file bankruptcy due to a divorce. I became responsible for every account we had.

One of the cc accounts had both are names on it. I was discharged of that debt and now they are coming after her for the money.

I received a call from her saying she is going to sue me if I do not pay it off.

Would she be able to sue me and win even though I am discharged of that debt?

The problem here is that the account appears to have been in joint names but you filed by yourself. If that is the case, that should not have happened and I would give your attorney a call about this to find out what to do in this situation since apparently the debt is discharged. If she was just an authorized user on the account, the debt is discharged as it was your responsibility and they should not be coming after her.

[JamesW1]

First of all it all depends on your divorce decree. How the debt was divided. If it was stipulated you were to pay on that debt then yes she would have a civil claim against you for the BK. Most of the time you should always pay off your debts before or during the divorce. Assignment of debts does not relieve the other party of the contractual liability of the debt that was formed during the marriage. Meaning a divorce judge can order that you pay a debt(s) but it doesn't release the other party (your spouse) from the obligation.

Meaning, its almost pointless to try to separate debts in a divorce proceeding since you still have liability for it no matter who the judge says id going to pay it.

But the question is, can she sue you. Well it depends, again on your divorce decree. At most unless she can prove you were the one that ran up all the debt on that card you maybe liable for half if she was to prevail in court. But then again the question that comes up is, you don't owe her the debt it belongs to CC company and I doubt she can sue to recover for them. So the only way she could sue you is for her to completely pay off the debt to the credit card and then sue you based on your divorce decree for your portion of the debt.

You could reopen your BK and add her a creditor for the amount you think she might sue you for and bar her from suing you.

You need to look at all the costs involved in this also. Her cost to sue you and it will NOT include her attorney fees most likely so she out of pocket on those, the cost to obtain an judgment and then if she can even effect the judgment.

The other factor is the cost to you, the cost to defend against the suit and or the cost to reopen your BK to add this.

At this point myself, I would probably look into seeing about adding her to the BK and if that doesn't work tell her to pound sand (unless of course the debt was your from the divorce) in that case it might just be cheaper all around to pay it off.

Thank you for all your respones. She did settle with the cc company and now is asking me to take care of it because in the divorce decree I am liable for the account.

So it sounds like she could have a civil case against me and win?

[AngelinaCat]

You need to talk to both your BK and divorce attorneys, and then have the two of them talk.

[soleprop]

[QUOTE=JamesW1;194557]She did settle with the cc company and now is asking me to take care of it because in the divorce decree I am liable for the account.
QUOTE]

first, i agree with everyone else - GET THE LAWYERS TO TALK THIS ONE OUT.

second, my opinion: your liability for the debt was removed by your CH7 bk and successful discharge of the debt. if your ex wanted you to solely be liable for the debts she should have taken any necessary actions to extricate herself from the accounts, and in fact most divorce decrees are written to include this responsibility on her part. i don't think she can successfully sue you, though that does not mean she cannot try.

logic says the debt was made yours in the divorce, you could not pay it, you filed bk, the debt was discharged; your culpability is gone regarding the debt.

what the law says...that's something your attorneys need to decipher.

but what do i know.