Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Virginia

Re: Ex-husband wants me to pay him for taxes he paid - it's a long story.

Assumptions: the action is in a Virginia state court; the amounts owed to the IRS were reflected on joint returns or because of joint returns previously filed, the IRS is holding you jointly liable; the divorce decree was silent as to who should pay the tax.

The allocation of assets has nothing to do with the allocation of liabilities, and usually, a divorce decree will specify who is liable for the taxes, credit cards, mortgage debt, etc., and in what proportions. If the decree said nothing, and you were "married, filing jointly" during the period for which the IRS has seized the money, then you're liable for something. You can argue that he always paid 100% of the tax during the period of your marriage, so you shouldn't have to pay anything, and maybe the court will buy that. But more than likely, you'll have to either split it 50-50 or reimburse him up to the amount of the tax liability created by your own taxable income.

There may be technical legal reasons why you shouldn't have to pay him, e.g., he sued you for "breach of contract" when he should have sued for "contribution", or the applicable statute of limitations has run, or something.

Depending on the amount in controversy, I'd recommend you hire an attorney. Perhaps, if this matter wasn't properly covered in your property settlement agreement and/or divorce decree, the attorney who represented you then will represent you now for free as a way of making up for his own error.