Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Wisconsin

Re: credit cards without permission

If your mother in law is serious about avoiding liability on the gambling debt, she needs to file a formal complaint with a law enforcement agency regarding the identity theft by her husband as soon as possible. Otherwise, nobody will ever take her denial seriously and she could even face a minor risk of criminal prosecution for his credit card fraud. Insofar as debt collectors are concerned, under the WI Marital Property Act she will remain civilly liable for her former husband's debt so long as she possesses marital property or earns marital wages. This is due to the fact that the Marital Property Act recognizes a 1/2 interest of her husband in anything she owns, even if her husband's name is not on the asset. The divorce will resolve the marital wages issue (post-divorce wages will no longer be marital property), but attempts to collect from any marital property she receives in the divorce may plague her for years. She needs a good divorce attorney to minimize her liability for the gambling debts in the divorce, and a good bankruptcy attorney to advise the divorce attorney throughout the process. Odds are that she will eventually be worn down by his creditors to the point that she will need to file a bankruptcy. A bankruptcy before the divorce is final may save money for both of them, since attorney fees and court filing fees are "two for the price of one" so long as the divorce is not yet final.