Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

Re: judgement with ex

If you are both joint debtors, you could likely sue your ex wife for contribution. If you are not joint debtors and your wife "caused" you to incur liability under the judgment, then you can likely sue her for indemnity.

Re: judgement with ex

You do have recourse; you can file a lawsuit against your ex-wife for her share of the judgment payments under certain circumstances.

Re: judgement with ex

Most likely, you would be entitled to file an indemnity complaint against your ex-wife. The amount and theory of recovery depends on the theory upon which you initially sued (e.g. breach of contract, negligence) and the nature of the relationship with your ex-wife that made you jointly responsible for the judgment.

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Re: judgement with ex

I am not a family law attorney, but I've discussed this with people who specialize in the field. When you divorced, the debts were probably divided just like the assets were divided. Sometimes joint debts will be assigned to one spouse or the other and sometimes they are shared equally.

There is probably a provision in the divorce decree addressing who must pay this debt/judgmennt. You should see a family law attorney to determine if you can bring a motion in the family law matter requiring your wife to indemnify you to the extent that you have overpaid your share of the debt. This should be much cheaper than filing a new lawsuit against your ex.