Legal Question in Family Law in Georgia

And your question is????

Regarding the credit cards, if you were a joint card holder and co-applicant for the card then as between you and credit card company you are liable. If you are just an authorized user on the accounts, you can get removed and have the accounts removed from your credit report.

Regarding the mortgage, if your name is on the mortgage then you are liable. Since you signed over your rights, you now longer own the home. What do you want to do? You can either not pay and let the house be foreclosed on. This may expose you to any potential deficiency if the bank has pursued this (GA has a requirement about this - the bank has to bring a special proceeding and get the sale price confirmed before it can seek deficiency).

Or, you could (depending on the language in your agreement) go back to the family court. You would have to work out some kind of deal with the bank to stop the foreclosure first but you then could go back to family court and see if the court can do something else - maybe award you possession of the home so that you could sell it. You could also seek to have your ex-husband held in contempt for not doing what he was supposed to have done. If you are liable on the credit cards then you again will have to make some agreement with the credit card issuers but this will make the case stronger for the judge to reassign the house to you solely so that you can sell it and use the proceeds to pay off the mortgage and credit card debts and maybe get the ex-husband to pay you for the damage he has caused.

First of all, I hope you checked your credit report prior to the divorce. I recommend that all of my clients do this as they often are surprised by what they find. If you didn't check the report, it is possible you were listed on the account prior to the divorce. If you were listed, these debts should have been resolved at the time of the divorce. I suggest you contact each company and request a copy of the application or other documentation showing when you were added. If it isn't your signature and you had no knowledge, you may be able to contest it with the company. If the credit card is showing on your credit report, the company obviously considers you a responsible party.

Secondly, in my agreements I always provide for contingencies if the person remaining in the marital residence fails to timely pay the mortgage. There should also be a clause wherein your ex indemnified and held you harmless. At this point you need to contact the mortgage company and find out the procedure to get the residence out of foreclosure. You can file a motion for contempt for the provisions in the agreement which your husband has failed to honor and possibly file to take over the house. Without knowing the exact language in the agreement/order, it is difficult to fully respond. I suggest you speak with an attorney prior to proceeding.