Category: Greed

What to do if your spouse runs up debt in your name

It can be shocking to learn that there are large debts in your name which you don’t know about, especially if they were accrued by your spouse.

In this guide, we’ll explain which debts you’re liable for and what options you have to seek informal and formal resolutions to help alleviate the debt. 

If you’re in immediate need of financial help, you might want to contact one of the organisations listed in our guide to debt management charities. 

When are you liable for a spouse’s debt?

It’s important to recognise the difference between debts that are held jointly between you and your spouse and ones which your spouse is solely responsible for. 

Separating these out will give you a clear idea of exactly how much debt you might be liable to pay and can help you identify which creditors have a legitimate claim against you.

https://www.choose.co.uk/guide/debt-accrued-by-spouse-in-your-name/

Financial abuse is a form of domestic abuse that can result in damage to your finances and credit, restrict your access to money and entrap you in an abusive relationship. Financial or economic abuse can be subtle or severe, and could apply to older adults being abused by caretakers, adult children being manipulated by parents and a variety of other scenarios. Here, we’ll focus on its effect on couples who share finances.

https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/how-to-identify-stop-financial-abuse/

If anyone, including a spouse, family member, or intimate partner, uses your personal information to open up an account in your name without your permission, this could be considered identify theft. Some examples of personal information that someone might use are your Social Security number, credit card and banking account numbers, usernames, passwords, and patient records. Fraudulent uses of this information may include opening new credit accounts, taking out loans, stealing money from financial accounts or using available credit.¹

https://www.womenslaw.org/about-abuse/forms-abuse/financial-abuse/after-abuser-has-taken-your-money-andor-run-debt-your-name

Financial infidelity is viewed as a “premeditated crime” because hiding or lying about money takes active and deliberate planning. And many people view it as worse than cheating, physically, on a partner. In the case of abuse, this is a completely justifiable “crime.”

Fraud

Claims of fraud may arise during the marriage or divorce if one spouse made a material misrepresentation about the value of assets or income. Fraud may be actual in which the individual had the intent to defraud the other spouse and the intention to deprive the other spouse from having fair use and enjoyment of the marital assets. Alternatively, fraud may be alleged to be constructive, meaning that there was not necessarily ill intent but that the spouse should have known that the actions would deceive the other spouse. 

Fraud claims are largely fact-specific and based on state laws. Some states include statutes regarding marital fraud during the divorce to include any transfers of marital assets that were not fair to the other party. 

Successfully bringing a fraud claim during the course of divorce or after the final settlement may impact a number of issues relevant to the divorce settlement. For example, it can impact the amount of spousal support that is awarded. Additionally, some courts may transfer the entire value of the asset that has been hidden or disposed of to the victimized spouse, rather than treat it as a 50/50 ownership under community property rules.

Criminal Charges

Rather than going through civil procedures to attempt to restore a person’s financial status after such a theft, victims may choose to pursue criminal charges against the spouse who wronged them. As part of the criminal process, the thieving spouse may be required to pay restitution to the victim.

https://www.hg.org/legal-articles/can-you-sue-a-spouse-for-theft-35994