You are married and your marriage isn’t doing too great. You start wondering whether you are going to be responsible for your spouse’s debts if you decide to split up. The general rule is that the community estate (meaning your joint property) is liable for a debt incurred by either of you before or during the marriage and prior to separation. This rule applies whether or not you are a party to the debt. This means that generally, even if a judgment is only in your spouse’s name, you are still liable even though your name wasn’t even on the contract and you were not a party to the transaction.
Let’s say that your spouse incurs a debt just for himself or herself which doesn’t technically benefit the community. Like in my wife’s case, buying a Louis Vuitton bag. Well, you are still responsible for paying, although you may have a claim of reimbursement against your spouse. So what about support obligations from a prior marriage? Unfortunately, I have more bad news. The community estate may be reached for these debts too, even if you are not personally responsible and have not consented to having it paid with community funds. The courts can however order reimbursement in some circumstances. Some good news is that your earnings during marriage are not liable for debts incurred by your spouse before marriage. In order to shield those earnings that have been paid, they must be held in a deposit account in which your spouse has no right of withdrawal and which are not commingled with other community estate property.
So what about liability for death or injury caused by the other spouse? Just because you are married does not make you vicariously liable for your spouse’s torturious acts or omissions. But, you may be held liable for injury or damage under any principle of law by which liability could be imputed if the marriage did not exist. For example, permissive use of an automobile which results in injury.
If liability for the debt arises out of a tort or civil wrong commited by your spouse for the benefit of community, it must be satisfied first from the community estate. The separate property of the spouse who caused the actual injuries is secondarily liable only to the extent the community estate is insufficient. And, if the spouse causing the injury was not performing an activity for the benefit of the community when the wrong occurred, it must be satisfied first out of that spouse’s separate property. In such an event, the community estate is secondarily liable only to the extent the separate property is insufficient. So for example, if your spouse slanders someone and calls them a thief and a crook, and doing so was not for the benefit of the community, his or her separate property will first be used to pay any resulting judgment. Aren’t you glad you wanted to find out which debts you are responsible for?
For all of your family law needs, call the Law Offices of Richard A. Marcus at 661-257-8877.