Can You Be Responsible for a Spouse's Debts?

In general, you are only responsible for those debts that you incur as an individual signer, joint signer or cosigner. However, in community property states, both you and your spouse are jointly liable for debt acquired during your marriage.

Divorce

Debts are assigned to each former spouse by court agreement.

The various divorce courts within each state assign marital debts to each party based upon legal codes and separate agreements. However, it does not relieve the creditor from seeking payment from you if you were the signer of the debt. Therefore, if your ex spouse does not pay their assigned debt and you are sued by the creditor, you must seek indemnification from the divorce court for non payment.

Bankruptcy

Assigned debts from a divorce cannot be discarded through bankruptcy.

If you or your former spouse declares bankruptcy subsequent to a divorce, the various bankruptcy laws do not discharge debts assigned within a divorce settlement. This means that creditors can still pursue you or your former spouse for repayment.

Death

If you pass away with a will, the will controls who gets what after your executor pays all allowable debts from your estate. If you pass away without a will, the court appoints an administrator to carry out these functions. However, creditors may not claim from your spouse's estate property allocated to you with the right of survivorship, such as real estate.