Legal Question in Family Law in Tennessee

Re: Who will be liable for the bill?

If there is a divorce action, then the parties will have to divide their assets as well as their debts. And this will be done by one of two ways - either the parties will agree to who gets what debt, or the judge will decide for them.

If the parties come to an agreement, then whether or not he is left "holding the bag" will depend on if he agrees to hold the bag. But if a judge has to decide the case, it will be what the judge decides. And THAT is the great unanswerable question in law: what will the judge decide?

You see, there are many many many other factors in this case that we don't know. Who earns what income, what are their assets, who gets what asset, what are their other debts, etc. And then there are the specific likes and dislikes of each judge (too numerous to list here). So, the answer is: it depends.

Sorry to not give you the concrete response you were looking for, but particularly in family law, each case is very dependent on the facts of the case. There is not one "rule of law" that applies here. Best thing your brother can do is go ahead and hire a great attorney.