Can a company that I owed an old debt to (2000) take the money from my ex-husband's bank account?

Question

When we got divored our debts were separate, I kept mine, he kept his. How can Asset Acceptance take an old debt that they bought and claim that they have the right to get money from me although I never promised to pay them anything? I have been off work due to permanent disability for many years. My ex-husband is gainfully employed and so they went into his acount and removed the money without any prior warning. I believe that my name might have been on the bank account although I had no personal access to that account since our divorce. Is there anything I can do to keep this from happening to him again?

Answer 1

The answer you've received is correct. The judgment of divorce sets out the settlement but you still need to actually go to the bank and execute appropriate paperwork to either remove your name or in the post patriot act era probably close the account and have your ex get a new one. The problem is that joint property is subject to claims of either party. If one of you has a debt then they can collect from any joint account. This is the danger in adding children to elderly parents accounts and ideas like that. Remember though that they had to obtain a judgment in court before they could actually garnish the account.

Answer 2

If your name was still on that account, then they can take the money. Your ex should take your name off the account. He may have to close that account and open a new one.

However, the collector had to sue you and get a judgment to be able to attach a bank account. Did you get a summons? Did you fail to go to court? If you didn't show, they got a default judgment.

If the debt was 7 years old, there's a good chance that it was beyond the statute of limitations (SOL). You could have used that as an affirmative defense in court.

Answer 3

Getting a divorce does not remove your name from his bank accounts and vice versa. People can have joint accounts without being married. So, you need to know which bank accounts have your name and which accounts have his name. Make sure you figure that out 1st.

Next, you need to know who signed for what debt. Your husband cannot sign you up for debt and vice versa. The question is did you sign any paperwork to take on debt? If you signed up for the debt, but that debt was later transferred to your husband in full as part of a divorce settlement, then you need to prove that to the creditor.

Even if you can prove it, you are still not out of the woods because if they cannot collect from him, you have a legal obligation to pay because you signed for it. Many non-married people sign for other people's debt. It's called co-signing. A divorce doesn't change the debt.