Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland

Can I sue my husband for desertion and leaving me in financial ruins?

During our almost eight years of marriage, everything we owed, borrowed or had was in my name only. This was due to my husbands bad credit standings before I met him. We paid off his tax leins, credit cards and almost all of his college loan. Meanwhile we used all my prexisting and new credit cards up to their limits. Truck loan (for his use) car insurance, townhouse down to the blockbuster card had to go into only my name. For a couple years we consoidated and were just starting to see a difference and he left me and our daughter. This was just after we both decided I would have to quit work due to a disability I developed. This was a decision not taken lightly, it took me three years to give in to ending my career. I had always been head of household finances, as he assured me with adjustments he could handle the finances. Can I bring a civil suit against him? I filed for limited divorce and received sole custody, child support and spousal support. This is my only source of income now. He is $8,000.00 in arrearments and just bought a truck hisself.I have no car due to his driving without insurance in my name. Filing bankruptsy became a costly scam after $1,200 I bailed Now after foreclosure on my townhouse, we will be homeless.


Asked on 7/27/04, 3:55 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Robert Sher Wagshal and Sher

Re: Can I sue my husband for desertion and leaving me in financial ruins?

If your husband is in arrears on his child and spousal support, you should go back to court and file a petition to have him held in contempt. The court can order him to start making payments or possibly go to jail. He might also lose his driver's license. You can also get a monetary judgment for the amount he owes you, but collecting this will probably be hard, since it sounds like he's gone through all of the money. If he's getting a paycheck, you can get an earnings withholding order requiring his employer to take the support payments out of his check and send it to the court for you.

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Answered on 7/27/04, 10:42 am


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