Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Wisconsin

Your situation is an extremely common one and is not much different than that faced by divorcing married couples. Unfortunately, if the "Ex" does not fulfill your expectations about division of future debt payments, etc., the creditors can pursue either one of you or both of you for the entire amount of the debt and repossess secured assets such as a home or a car. If both of you are on the title of any real estate, judgments against either or both of you (on credit cards, etc.) can indeed create liens against the land, as can a bankruptcy filing by one of you. Even a quit claim deed from the "ex" to the person remaining in the home will not stop creditors from enforcing their claims against any jointly owed assets. However, Wisconsin law does provide a legal remedy known as partition for resolving disputes over real estate owned by multiple parties, allowing a judge to order the land sold to the highest bidder and proceeds going first to pay off debts attached to the property and the costs of sale. Either of the parties can bid on the property, provided that they have sufficient funds to pay, so bidders at such a sale are not restricted to outside buyers. However, if the land cannot realistically be sold at a high enough price to pay off all mortgages, the partition option provides little comfort. You should therefore consult with an experienced real estate (or bankruptcy) attorney as soon as possible. My comments in this public web forum are offered solely for public educational purposes and are not legal advice; nor do they create an attorney client relationship between us. However, you are welcome to contact my Racine office to discuss retaining me or to set up a free initial consultation.