Legal Question in Family Law in Washington
Commerical Lease Marital Obligation
My wife just informed me that she about to sign a 5 yr commercial lease ($600k commitment) for a new business she wants to start. I cannot assume this large of risk and have made it clear to her that I will not sign anything. We have assets in the form of 401k�s for each of us, Roth IRA�s for each of us and a joint taxable investment acct. We are married in the state of WA.
My questions are these:
1) If she does sign the lease on her own, as a spouse am I financially obligated in any way?
2) If she does sign the lease on her own and the business fails, and the leasor has a claim against her assets, would these assets include the full marital assets of both of us?
3) What remedies are available to protect my interests and is timing important?
a. As you can probably surmise, divorce is an option right now� however if there are other alternatives, I would like to explore them.
Thank you in advance!
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Commerical Lease Marital Obligation
Assume that you have no pre-nup or separate property agreements set up now, you could consider doing one.
You EACH need a lawyer to do this.
Your failure to sign anything is just going to create liability for your community interests in the lease, so you don't want to approach it that way. In the absence of a writing, you and all your community share of the assets of your marital community are going to have liability for your wife's commercial lease.
Commercial landlords do not mess around, the rules are harsh and the tenant is presumed to have counsel whether they do or not.
If she doesn't have an attorney review the lease BEFORE she signs it, she is asking for trouble.
In dissolution cases there is a point called a separation date. After that, there is a presumption that debts incurred by one spouse are the responsibility of the incurring spouse.
But you also cannot leave third party creditors hanging without recourse.
I hope you find a local attorney who can give you advice, as this is awfully general.
Elizabeth Powell
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