Financial issues are a common cause of divorce, so it’s not surprising if you have financial problems that come up while you’re trying to separate your assets or move on from this marriage. Having opposing ideas about how to save or spend money, mismatched priorities or other financial problems can split up a marriage quickly, which is why it’s so important for you to focus on resolving financial issues before you separate and move on with your life.
Since you may have had different approaches to your finances, you and your spouse need to have a clear discussion about what kind of debts you have as well as your income and finances. If you can realistically say that you have no debt but your spouse was hiding $50,000 in debt, then you need to decide how to handle that debt during your divorce.
Should your spouse take over all that debt? Possibly, but if you have to go to court then community property laws will apply. That means that you could end up paying a portion of that debt back even if you didn’t make it to begin with.
Dealing with financial issues is a common sticking point during divorces
It can be hard to resolve some financial issues because they’re so polarizing. Yes, you would be justified in being angry about your spouse spending thousands of dollars and expecting you to pay back a share when you saw no benefit from the debt. It may make sense to ask your spouse to pay that debt themselves and to request that they settle with you before going to court to make sure you’re not stuck with that debt.
If your spouse doesn’t want to work with you on resolving the debt before divorcing, then you may be frustrated by their actions. That’s reasonable. You may want to start collecting evidence that they hid the debt from you and focus on finding a way to get as much as possible out of your assets, so you, at the very least, have money and assets to support yourself as you move forward.
