Legal Question in Family Law in Illinois

Re: Joint debt

I am sorry for your situation. I sympathize from my own experience within my family.

Your remedies short of bankruptcy would involve looking at what you own as far as a home, car and other property. It might be possible to negotiate with credit card companies, however it is easier to do so with an attorney doing the negotiation.

There are also credit counseling agencies that can help. However, I would caution you to be careful when using these services. From my own client's experiences, they can sometimes do more harm than good.

Bankruptcy is the last resort, but sometimes the only logical option. If you were to restructure or renogitate the debt you are still responsible for paying it off. You need to make sure you could still make reduced payments.

I would be willing to speak with you regarding this problem. Please call (847) 223-4410.

Very truly yours,

Thaddeus Hunt, Esq.

Re: Joint debt

I see from the law website that another attorney has already responded to your question. His advice is sound. Please permit me to add the following:

Illinois law (750 ILCS 5/402) permits suit to be filed to obtain reasonable support from your spouse. The statute provides in part: �(a) Any person living separate and apart from his or her spouse without fault may have a remedy for reasonable support and maintenance while they so live apart. . . .�

At its core, legal separation proceedings are meant for the award (or non-award) of support from one party to the other. Unlike dissolution proceedings, property and debt are not divided in actions for legal separation [unless the parties agree to let it be divided].

If you can establish grounds [desertion takes at least a year, i.e., �the respondent has wilfully deserted or absented himself or herself from the petitioner for the space of one year, including any period during which litigation may have pended between the spouses for dissolution of marriage or legal separation� � there are other grounds which have no time requirements], you can file for dissolution of marriage. In such a proceeding, the property and debts of the parties can be divided, and alimony [maintenance] can be awarded if appropriate.

In both actions for legal separation and dissolution, orders for temporary support can be entered early in the case.

I advise you seek the advice of an attorney as soon as possible. Debts and payments on debts are stubborn things � they don�t go away, they just get worse over time. If you delay the institution of proceedings you might find that, by the time you obtain judicial relief, your creditors have already defaulted you, repossessed your car(s), revoked your credit cards, and ruined your credit rating.

P.S. There is a doctrine called dissipation whereby a party is responsible to the other party for money spent for non-marital purposes after the marriage of the parties has broken down. Your spouse�s current spending (rent for another residence, purchase of furniture and household furnishings, etc.) may be considered to be dissipation. More directly applicable here, under Illinois law, the dissipating party need not derive a personal benefit from the dissipation in order to be held accountable such that, a spouse's failure to make mortgage payments and prevent foreclosure on a family home, which results in a loss of equity therein, can constitute dissipation. In re Jones, 187 Ill.App.3d 206, 134 Ill.Dec. 836, 543 N.E.2d 119 (1 Dist. 1989).