Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in New York

Re: recovering money owed

It all depends on how the relationship was set up. By that I mean was there anything in writing that shows that while you may be responsible for paying the bills, your significant other is responsble to you for his/her portion? If there is no writing, how are you going to prove the other is responsible? Even if there is a writing how do you establish who incurred the bills? That is a tough thing to do. Regardless, the first step is to memorialize the matter. Send a letter to your other stating that pursuant to your agreement that he/she pay for charges incurred, you have developed a list of charges due...then list them with as much particularity as you can...date, amount, where, etc...so that it is clear what you are looking for and why. Then, if there is no response send the letter certified mail. THen, if there is still no response, you can go to small claims court (up to 5 thousand) or regular court to try to convince a judge the funds are owed. The letters while not dispositive, may serve to show there was an agreement and help determine the amounts. Proof of prior payments may also help (during the relationship) to show how things were handled when the relationship was on good terms.