Legal Question in Family Law in California

Re: How to distinguish premarital debts and marital debts

debts incurred prior to the marriage are separate, debts incurred during the marriage are presumed to be community. If he breached his fiduciary duty by excessive gambling, you can seek reimbursement from him. After separation, to the extent you use your separate property (income for example) to pay on his separate debts, you can seek reimbursement from him. Community assets can be used to pay your husband's separate debts.

Here, if the credit cards are only in his name and your separated with no community property, as long as you aren't on those accounts, its between your husband and the creditor. His student loans, even if incurred during the marriage, are assigned to him without offset. If you didn't sign on the car loan, its between him and the creditor. You have no responsibility concerning his unpaid traffic ticket.

In the future, yes, its good to have accounting software such as Quicken to track your finances. That will help keep things clear at divorce.

Re: How to distinguish premarital debts and marital debts

Lots of questions. Here is the easy rule. Debts before marriage are his separate debts unless you refinance those debts after marriage with your knowledge and take responsibility. If the car was taken out after marriage, you are all liable including mom if she signed the loan docs. Any debt incurred during marriage from community obligations are both of your debts. If you need more help, let me know. Mark.