Credit Card Payments After Divorce
From the Minnesota Divorce and Family Law blog:
When a couple gets divorced, and the divorce decree makes one spouse responsible for credit card debt (or other debt), the other spouse should not have to worry about the credit card company contacting them for payment, right? Wrong. The divorce decree determines rights and responsibilities as between the spouses; but in most circumstances, the divorce decree does not affect the rights of third parties.
So, if the credit card company cannot collect from spouse A, the company may try to get payment from spouse B, even if the divorce decree gives spouse A sole responsibility for the debt. If the credit card company obtains payment from spouse B, spouse B's recourse is to get relief through the family court in the form of reimbursement from spouse A for the amount the credit card company got from spouse B.
The family court has the authority to grant that relief because, while the credit card company's collection from spouse B does not technically violate the terms of the decree, spouse A's default on the debt payment, in effect, does violate the terms of the decree, and the family court can remedy that defect.
Source: "Credit Card Companies Don't Care What the Divorce Decree Says" by Gerald Williams, published at his Minnesota Divorce and Family Law blog.
When a couple gets divorced, and the divorce decree makes one spouse responsible for credit card debt (or other debt), the other spouse should not have to worry about the credit card company contacting them for payment, right? Wrong. The divorce decree determines rights and responsibilities as between the spouses; but in most circumstances, the divorce decree does not affect the rights of third parties.
So, if the credit card company cannot collect from spouse A, the company may try to get payment from spouse B, even if the divorce decree gives spouse A sole responsibility for the debt. If the credit card company obtains payment from spouse B, spouse B's recourse is to get relief through the family court in the form of reimbursement from spouse A for the amount the credit card company got from spouse B.
The family court has the authority to grant that relief because, while the credit card company's collection from spouse B does not technically violate the terms of the decree, spouse A's default on the debt payment, in effect, does violate the terms of the decree, and the family court can remedy that defect.
Source: "Credit Card Companies Don't Care What the Divorce Decree Says" by Gerald Williams, published at his Minnesota Divorce and Family Law blog.
If the court ordered the husband the responsibility of paying the credit card dept and the wife to reimburse the husband for 1/2 of the bill until paid in full but the wife is always late or refuses to pay the amount.The court ordered that $139.00 a month to be paid and the wife is to reimburse $69.50 each month but now denies that she owes the money even though the husband as fulfilled the credit card obligation and has always paid more then the required amount and on time.The wife has also changed the address on the credit card bill to her address, and the husband does not receive the monthly statement/bill and the husband has to contact the credit card company to re-route the bill to his residence.Can the wife be held in contempt for her action