Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Washington
Collection Matter
My ex-husband established an account solely in his prior prior to me even knowing him and prior to our marriage. Once we got married, there were 5 purchases on that account made by my ex-husband. At no time did I request to be added to this account. We have since divorced but now the account has been sent to collections and they are trying to collect the whole amount from me. Is that legal? This was in the state of Washington which is a community property state but again, this account existed prior to our marriage.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Collection Matter
WA is a community property state. The purchases were made with community funds after the marriage took place. Thus, this is a community debt.
The third-party creditor is entitled to collect from whomever they can get it out of assuming there are not other defenses.
It's legal.
On the other hand if your ex agreed to assume this debt as his sole responsibility in the disso then if the creditor can successfully collect from you, you can go after your ex for the funds you had to put out on his account.
Your decree may or may not include a hold harmless clause. That means you can ask a court to hold him responsible for obligations he promised to take on, and recoup your attorney fees and costs expended to get him to pay up.
Go look at your decree, see what it says. Hope this helps. Powell
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