Wife Forged Name, Ran Up Debt, Filed Divorce. Bankruptcy Or?

Question

My brother is a truck driver. Only home every other weekend. Wife out of the blue wants a divorce. He does a credit report and finds out she forged his name to several credit cards, ran up about 60K in debt, forged and cleaned out his life insurance policy, and also (she was filing seperately) had a 25K IRS tax lean against house. She's didn't file her taxes a year or two.

His divorce lawyer doesn't seem too versed in bankruptcy law. Here's the situation: Court ordered her to assume about $47,000 of the $60,000 in credit card debt. When house is sold, they both clear about $50K a piece. IRS gets about 30K of hers. Credit card companies are threatening garnishing his wages. She is "hiding" from them. If he charges her with credit fraud she'll lose her nursing job (can't have a felony as a nurse) and he'd get custody of the kid. He doesn't want to do that but may have no choice. How can he get them off his back since she's signed a court order saying she's responsible? Bankruptcy? Etc

You read that wrong. His wife signed a court order assuming like $47K of the $60K debt. Her lawyer told her she better buckle or else she might face the credit fraud charges by my brother, lose her job and custody of the kid.

But, she is hiding from the credit card companies and so they keep coming after my brother. Heck, she had hidden PO boxes for her mail, and even her credit report lists her job address at a business that she doesn't work for. Like I said, he's a nurse, but somehow she's fixed it so nobody can find her, at home or work. We don't even know where she's living now or what hospital she works at.

His lawyer doesn't seem to know what he's doing. Well, the divorce worked in his favor but where to go from here? How does he get these credit card companies off his back? The court order even says that she's not allowed to file for bankruptcy as a way out so the credit card companies can go after him. And if she does quit her job or file bankruptcy, what does he do then?

Sorry, meant "She's a nurse", not "He".

Answer 1

Everything changed when I got to your last sentence. He signed a court order assuming all responsibility...now he has to pay.

Answer 2

You should visit FINANCE-SOLUTION.US I am sure here you can find the best option for you

RE Wife Forged Name, Ran Up Debt, Filed Divorce. Bankruptcy Or?

My brother is a truck driver. Only home every other weekend. Wife out of the blue wants a divorce. He does a credit report and finds out she forged his name to several credit cards, ran up about 60K in debt, forged and cleaned out his life insurance policy, and also (she was filing seperately) had a 25K IRS tax lean against house. She's didn't file her taxes a year or two.

His divorce lawyer doesn't seem too versed in bankruptcy law. Here's the situation: Court ordered her to assume about $47,000 of the $60,000 in credit card debt. When house is sold, they both clear about $50K a piece. IRS gets about 30K of hers. Credit card companies are threatening garnishing his wages. She is "hiding" from them. If he charges her with credit fraud she'll lose her nursing job (can't have a felony as a nurse) and he'd get custody of the kid. He doesn't want to do that but may have no choice. How can he get them off his back since she's signed a court order saying she's responsible? Bankruptcy? Etc

Answer 3

Ok I have been here, it wasnt that severe but it dealt with a used car at a buy here pay here, so a 5 year old car wound up costing more than it did new... What I did was I acquired the original documents, you can get them from the credit card companies because your (his) name is on them. When he gets them (sorry I keep wanting to write you) he should be able to clearly see that his signature does not match those who are on the forms. Basically since she didnt have them in her name, if they were your brother would be responsible for half.... I would say that he should turn in a copy of the court order to the credit card companies but he should also ask for the copies of the signature that was used for the opening of the account. Tell your brother to look at it this way.... Did she care when she emptied all of his accounts? Did she care that she was going to ruin his credit with the credit cards? I think that he needs to get her with the credit fraud, no its not nice but I do think that she deserves it.....

Answer 4

The court order doesn't do anything to convince creditors that he doesn't have to pay. Bankruptcy is certainly the easy way (and more affordable way), but if he doesn't want to file and wants to effectively have her on the hook, he should consult a consumer law attorney (many such attorneys are also well versed in bankruptcy so they can give you the low down on the various options for this situation). If he now has $50k laying around because of the house sale, that's going to cause problems with a bankruptcy unless he pays that much into a chapter 13 plan (which really wouldn't accomplish anything since he'd still be paying a large chunk to these creditors). Forgery SHOULD be a valid defense if any of these creditors sue him (Hopefully they didn't already get judgment, he's SOL if he is past the time he can vacate the judgments). He really needs to speak to an attorney versed in Collections/Consumer/Bankruptcy.

Also, with the tax lien, it shouldn't be an issue if it's just coming out of her share of the proceeds, but he'd want to make sure the IRS is aware that they are only entitled to her share of the property. But since she filed separately I would think he doesn't have to worry about them going after him personally, but he may want to see a tax attorney to be safe.

If he gets stuck paying, he can pursue reimbursement from her via the divorce judgment, so that is an option he should keep in mind as well. She may think she doesn't have to pay, but he should be able to garnish her wages (she should make decent wages as a nurse) if his get garnished. If the family law attorney isn't well versed in collections, your brother needs to find an attorney that is familiar with collections as the collections process is typically the same in family law as it is in a small claims or other collections case.

Just adding in response to your additional info: If she files bankruptcy he needs to get a bankruptcy attorney and object to discharge. The fact that it is in a divorce judgment should be sufficient to stop the discharge. If she went to file bankruptcy, her bankruptcy attorney probably would advise her of the fact that it could be deemed nondischargeable as well. He should also find a different attorney experienced in collections to enforce that part of the judgment against her because it sounds like the family law attorney doesn't have that kind of experience.

Answer 5

The court needs to send an official document to the credit agencies showing that this woman is responsible. He should also charge this woman with credit fraud or it will come back to haunt him in many, many ways. It sucks, but she shouldn't have committed a felony. You get out of life what you put into it.


btw he should get a separate lawyer regarding the fraud case.

Answer 6

This is a hard situation to be in...sorry to hear about it. From my cold-hearted perspective, she apparently didn't give a rat's behind about him and went and ran up all this debt without his knowledge. Therefore, I say he should prosecute her and do what he can to pick up the pieces after that and move on with his life. If she loses her job or gets arrested, or whatever the case may be, it's just her getting what she deserves. I applaud his compassion but I say stick her with it and take the kid.

Answer 7

He has to send the copies of the court ordered decision, to each creditor, and a separate letter stating he is not responsible for those debts. They do have to honor them as it is court ordered. My Hubby was in that kind of mess with his ex-wife before, and as we started our life together. We had to do that for each creditor. It is a pain, but it does work. He was able to save his credit, and good name. Good Luck....to him...Some women should just fall off the end of the earth....!!!

Answer 8

First get a better lawyer. Then it is time to "make a deal" with her. She can either go to jail and lose the kid forever. Or she can pay for everything and still have the kid. Either way, she is likely to do some time if forgery is proven.

Answer 9

My ex opened up a bunch of joint accounts and maxed them out and didn't pay. I didn't find out about it until divorce time. When I called the credit card companies, I told them they had been opened without my approval and without my knowledge. I told them if they could find my signature anywhere, they could pursue me. I even provided them with a copy of my signature. That's the last I heard from them and they disappeared from my credit report as well.

Answer 10

The attny should be able to show documentation of the forged credit card applications. I would also suggest, as hard as it is to do because of the kids, he has to prosecute her so he can show the court documentation if needed to remove the fraudulent cards.

Answer 11

If u really want to get outof thetrouble,arrangemoney andclear all debts first.Ask the lady to thinkabouther limit andavoidsuchfrauds.Atpresent shehasdone thiswithin the family. Next timeshe evenmay with strangers.Surely, shewillinvite trouble for her self andto thewholefamily.