Ex-husband responsible to pay my Capital One account in divorce decree but is not and they offered to settle.
I was divorced in 2008. My ex husband had incurred a large amount of debt, some of which he used a large home equity loan to pay off, and still had an additional large loan with Capital One ($24,000) that was in my name (as his credit was poor for a long time).
I was in the dark as to the amount and scope of these loans, as he was using the money to finance a second family. At our divorce, he was ordered to pay the Capital One personal loan. He went several months without paying, and now he pays about half of the originally agreed-upon monthly amount.
Capital One sends me letters that the account is 60, 90, back to 60, then 90, etc. days late, and each time the ex responds that he is paying as much as he can and they are accepting his payment and he is doing the best he can, yada, yada. In the meantime, my credit is trashed.
I have called Capital One and they have offered to settle for 1/2 of the original amount, and I would have to try to get blood from the proverbial turnip. I know that the credit card companies do not acknowledge divorce decrees, but do the courts see these as reasonable defenses? It would be filed in the same small town with the same judge that granted my divorce, and shortly dead-docketed a domestic violence case against him (long, sorted story...). Your help is appreciated.
Is the divorce decree outlining his responsibility to pay a good defense for a possible lawsuit?
—KAP
You have recognized that Capital One is unfortunately not going to let you off the hook even though your divorce decree made your ex responsible for the payments on that account. If CapOne takes you to court as the person contractually obligated to pay, your defense (even in front of the same judge you had during the divorce proceedings) that the ex was to pay off the debt will not likely meet with success as CapOne is trying to enforce a contract with you.
The settlement offer of 50% from Capital One is reasonable. Is there a way for you to come up with the funds and later take your ex to task for the amount you paid?
Is there a way that you and your ex can pool available funds to meet the negotiated amount in order to put this behind you?
You can certainly drag your ex back into court over the matter, but to what end?
I would recommend you connect with your divorce attorney and explore your options for holding your ex accountable, but to resolve the debt with Capital One in the best, and most affordable way you can, in order to prevent collections on the account escalating from here.
Anyone dealing with a similar set of circumstances is welcome to post int he comments below for feedback.