Best Adoption Lawyers in Columbia, MO

Because the house is in both names, it is marital property. Mortgage payments by only one spouse still increase the value (equity) in the house for both spouses.

There are two aspects of this. First, regarding third-party creditors: You are only responsible for debt you sign on for. Second, regarding a divorce: The court will only allocate debt between the parties. It will not involve third-party creditors. For many cases, courts will allocate debt to the spouse that incurred it. If the spouses incurred it together, courts will often direct that each party pay a portion, often (but not always) half. If debt is tied to a certain asset such as a car, it is common for the party that gets the asset to also get the debt. In certain circumstances, the court will order one spouse to pay a debt that was incurred solely by the other spouse. This happens, for instance, if the debt was incurred for an important marital purpose; or if the parties both benefitted from something related to the debt and one party is in a financially superior position.

Generally, the vested portion of the plan before marriage is yours alone. Contributions to the plan subsequent to being married (generally from wage deductions) are considered marital property. There are some exceptions, such as retirement accounts for teachers. The valuation of the marital portion of the plan (if any) depends on several technical factors.

The biggest problem from one spouse filing for bankruptcy is often the practical concern that joint debts will be reported to credit agencies. Nonfiling spouses will need to spend time contacting various entities to ensure their names are not tied into a bankruptcy filing. They will also need to ensure the entire debt is paid. This can be a real problem for larger debts, when both incomes are necessary for timely payments. Dan Pingelton can suggest steps to take within the divorce action itself to ameliorate damage caused by a single bankruptcy filing.