Can creditors go after an ex-spouse if his or her name is not on a credit or mortgage account?

Answer 1

In non-community property states, creditors can only go after the person(s) who signed on the account to be responsible. So, normally creditors may NOT go after ex-spouses (or even current spouses) for debts which belong exclusively to the other spouse. However, this may not be true in community property states (I don't know a whole lot about community property state law). Fortunately, there aren't very many community property states. The community property states/territories are: Alaska, Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Puerto Rico, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin. However, even in non-community property states, there may be ways around the general rule that creditors cannot pursue spouses. For example, many states have fraudulent conveyance statutes, that say that if a person who owes money conveys property to another person for the purpose of protecting that property from creditors, the creditor may still be able to go after the property, and potentially even the person who received the property, for collection purposes. So, while creditors in non-community property states cannot pursue an ex-spouse, they may have some recourse if the person who is liable on the account transferred real estate or other property to the ex-spouse for the purpose of shielding that property from creditors. Please note that nothing in this posting or in any other posting constitutes legal advice; this is simply my understanding of the facts, which I do not warrant, and I am not suggesting any course of action or inaction to any person.