Wifes Debts

[BagPussAA]

My partners wife walked out on him 4 years ago and he has not seen her since. We think she has returned to the US as she is a US citizen. He has since moved from the home he shared with her into a property with me. We have started getting letters addressed to his wife from debt collection agencies demanding payment.

Am I right in thinking that we are not responsible for paying these debts off as they are in her name only?

[shero101]

You are certainly not responsible. You say your partner's 'wife' rather than 'ex-wife'. Are we to assume he is still married ? If so he may have responsibiliy. However, if he is divorced then all financial matters during the marriage would have been finalised so he would be in the clear.

[BagPussAA]

Unfortunately they have not been separated long enough for him to get a divorce without her consent and without knowing where she is makes it difficult. He needs to be separated for another year before we can apply to the courts to have a divorce granted without her.

[shero101]

Hi BagPuss, thanks for clarifying. Hopefully you'll get a clearer answer from an AB'er more versed in law than myself but I would think that the debt would form part of the marrital estate that needs to be considered for the divorce when the time comes. It would be wrong for him to ignore this as presumably interest will mount up. It would be worth him seeking legal advice.

[JRB]

I ahve heard of this kind of thing before when debt collection agencies harass an ex-pertner (not even a marital partner) for debts owed by a third party. It seems that yours is the only address they have that has any connection with her and so they latch on to it. Try returning the mail to them, marked "not now or never at this address"

As long as he was not a co-signatory to these debts, and did not stand as a guarantor he should be OK. Sadly people often stand as guarantors for family members etc without fully understanding that they must take responsibility for the debt should the other person default.

[BagPussAA]

Thanks JRB.. You have set my mind at ease slightly. He is definately not a co-signatory on the debt. It is for a catalogue company that she has ordered stuff from. Although we did open the letter to find out the details of what it was, when the next one arrives I will just send it back. Thanks for your help guys