Legal Question in Family Law in California

Re: Financial Responsibility

Lyle�s advice about bankruptcy is good advice. He is also correct about your income being at risk. Until it is resolved you might want to avoid having a joint account with him. Keeping your funds separate or even keeping both your funds in your name only doesn�t change the fact that your income would become liable, but it can make it much harder for them to find and collect it.

Re: Financial Responsibility

Marrying your boyfriend will not make you personally responsible for these debts, but your income, in California, is community property. That means that one half of your income is his income, and one half of his income is your income. Your income would become liable for those debts only if he is unemployed and cannot pay then your income could be taken for some of these debts. He should contact an attorney about the possibility of filing bankruptcy and discharging some of these debts. In some cases taxes cas be discharged. If bankruptcy is an option that he is considering he should act quickly as congress is working on amending the bankruptcy law. It appears that the new bankruptcy law may be much less favrable to debtors.