Complications arise when homeowners with an equity loan against their home get a divorce. Often couples have a home with a home equity line of credit (HELOC), or a joint mortgage and this can be a major consideration in divorce proceedings. Just because the court awarded your ex-spouse the home and the debt that goes with it does not mean you are off the hook for the payments.

Home equity funds can be easily accessed by your soon-to-former spouse. Home-equity lines frequently provide credit cards or checks. The major credit card companies have no systems requiring joint signatures when a credit card is used and the checks require only one signature. Any spouse suspecting that the other is doing divorce estate planning should cancel all credit lines and put the creditors on notice, in writing, that further debts are not your responsibility.

Responsibility for equity loan debt is not affected by divorce from the lender’s viewpoint. The lender will still report that loan on your credit and hold you responsible in the event of default. Fortunately, if your ex-spouse is paying the loan, it does not have to hold you back from purchasing a home of your own.

If you and your former spouse agree, the divorce decree can clearly state that one of you is not responsible for the payments on the mortgage or HELOC. If this agreement is reached it is advantageous to have the decree require the former spouse who has accepted the responsibility for the loan to refinance the home within a certain amount of time. If your divorce decree does not mention who is ordered to pay the loans, have the decree amended to show which party is responsible for that loan.

Separating from your spouse may not be enough if you wish to exclude yourself from your responsibility for a mortgage or HELOC debt. Some home buyers commit fraud by stating they are separated and no longer responsible for the debt when they really are not. If you are legally separated and have a separation agreement filed with the courts that has been in place for a year, you can ask the lender to exclude you from the debt.

If you have a question regarding Family Law in California please contact us at (818) 926-4420 or visit the Family Law section on our website at Law Offices of Anat Resnik. Call today and we will connect you with Anat Resnik, an experienced, aggressive, affordable Divorce and Family Law Attorney in California. After you have spoken with our California Family Law attorney, we can schedule you a free face to face appointment to discuss your circumstances. If you have questions or are considering any aspect of filing for Divorce, a Paternity issues, Child Custody and Visitation, Spousal Support & Alimony, etc. we can help! Call us now at(818) 926-4420. We look forward to hearing from you and assisting you with any and all family law needs.

Though it has been customary for the new wife to adopt her husband’s name, after divorce, the former spouse may have many reasons to return to her birth name. This situation is probably best addressed at the time of the divorce.

You can request that the judge handling your divorce make a formal order restoring your former or birth name. If your divorce decree includes such an order, that will provide sufficient documentation of your name change.

Ask the court clerk for certified copies of the order as proof of the name change. You can then use this official documentation to have your name changed on your identification such as driver’s license, ATM cards, and other personal records.

If you have an existing divorce decree that doesn’t have the order that restores your birth name , you may be able to have the decree modified to include such an order. In California, this is possible even after the divorce is final. You should request a form entitled “Ex Parte Application for Restoration of Former Name After Entry of Judgment of Order (FL-395)” from the court or on the internet. You must file this form along with one copy of your judgment (final decree) with the court. You may file this document either in person or by mail. If you file by mail, be sure to enclose a self-addressed envelope.

If you have documentation showing your birth name, such as a birth certificate or an old passport you can probably resume using that name with out going through modification of your divorce decree. You should request that your name be changed on all your personal records including financial accounts, credit cards, etc. and begin using your former name consistently.

If you’re returning to a name you had before marriage, you’re far less likely to encounter difficulties with the change than if you adopt a completely new name, but you may still face some problems in returning to a previous name. This is more likely if you are a newly naturalized citizen or if you lack reliable documentation of your former name.

If you have a question regarding Family Law in California please contact us at (818) 926-4420 or visit the Family Law section on our website at Law Offices of Anat Resnik. Call today and we will connect you with Anat Resnik, an experienced, aggressive, affordable Divorce and Family Law Attorney in California. After you have spoken with our California Family Law attorney, we can schedule you a free face to face appointment to discuss your circumstances. If you have questions or are considering any aspect of filing for Divorce, a Paternity issues, Child Custody and Visitation, Spousal Support & Alimony, etc. we can help! Call us now at(818) 926-4420. We look forward to hearing from you and assisting you with any and all family law needs.

Whether you and your spouse are liable for each other’s debts depends mostly on where you live. In California, one of the handful of states with “community property” rules, most debts incurred by one spouse during the marriage are owed by both spouses. But in states that follow “common law” property rules, debts incurred by one spouse are usually that spouse’s debts alone, unless the debt was for a family necessity, such as food or shelter for the family or tuition for the kids. (These are general rules; some states have subtle variations in how they treat joint and separate debts.)

These rules also apply to same-sex marriages in the states that allow them and to same-sex domestic partnerships and civil unions in states where those relationships are the equivalent of marriage such as California.

California is a community property state and as such the following guidelines generally apply:

Debts

In community property states, most debts incurred by either spouse during the marriage are owed by the “community” (the couple), even if only one spouse signed the paperwork for a debt. The key here is during the marriage. So if you incur a debt, such as a student loan, while you’re single, and then get married, it won’t automatically become a joint debt. (An exception is where a spouse signs on to an account as a joint account holder after getting married.)

After a legal separation or divorce, a debt is generally owed only by the spouse who incurred the debt, unless the debt was incurred for family necessities, to maintain jointly owned assets (for example, to fix a leaking roof), or if the spouses keep a joint account.

Income and property

In community property states, a couple’s income is shared as well. All income earned by either spouse during marriage, as well as property bought with that income, is community property, owned equally by husband and wife. Gifts and inheritances received by one spouse, as well as separate property owned before marriage that’s kept separate, are the separate property of one spouse. All income or property acquired before or after a divorce or permanent separation is also separate.

What property can be taken to pay debts? In California, creditors of one spouse can go after the assets and income of the married couple to make good on joint debts (and remember, in a community property state, most debts incurred during marriage are considered joint debts).

If you have a question regarding Family Law in the San Fernando Valley please contact us at (818) 926-4420 or visit the Family Law section on our website at Law Offices of Anat Resnik. Call today and we will connect you with Anat Resnik, an experienced, aggressive, affordable Divorce and Family Law Attorney in the San Fernando Valley. After you have spoken with our San Fernando Valley Family Law attorney, we can schedule you a free face to face appointment to discuss your circumstances. If you have questions or are considering any aspect of filing for Divorce, a Paternity issues, Child Custody and Visitation, Spousal Support & Alimony, etc. we can help! Call us now at(818) 926-4420. We look forward to hearing from you and assisting you with any and all family law needs.

Divorce and student loans and are an increasingly common set of circumstances in today’s marriages. We often see at least one member of a married couple carrying substantial student loan debt. Even with a good job, many graduates are struggling to make payments on their loans and provide for a family or save for a house at the same time. When students with loan debt marry, they often wonder whether their spouse will be responsible for their student loan debt. When contemplating a divorce, many clients worry that they will be stuck having to bear the burden of their soon-to-be ex-spouse’s student loan debt.

While it is true that most debts that are incurred during a marriage are subject to equal division between the spouses, a debt incurred for education debt may be an exception. In California, the spouse who takes out the loans usually is the one responsible for paying for them, depending on how long ago the loan was taken out, and other facts such as the length of the marriage.

It is possible, however, if your spouse took out the student loans during your marriage, you may be responsible even if your name is not on those loans. For example, if you had a long marriage before your divorce, you might have trouble proving that the debt should remain with your spouse because your spouse could argue that the “community”, in other words, you both had already benefited. In this case, all of your assets and your income, whether held jointly or by you alone, can be taken to pay off the debt.

In California, however, the debt usually goes with the person who incurred it or whose name is on it. So, if your spouse took out their loans during the marriage or before the marriage probably won’t make a difference. The circumstances essentially remain the same. The student loan would most likely be your spouse’s to pay off. Consulting a family law lawyer would clarify the issues of student loans in your particular circumstances.

If you have a question regarding Family Law in Los Angeles County please contact us at (818) 926-4420 or visit the Family Law section on our website at Law Offices of Anat Resnik. Call today and we will connect you with Anat Resnik, an experienced, aggressive, affordable Divorce and Family Law Attorney in Los Angeles County. After you have spoken with our Los Angeles County Family Law attorney, we can schedule you a free face to face appointment to discuss your circumstances. If you have questions or are considering any aspect of filing for Divorce, a Paternity issues, Child Custody and Visitation, Spousal Support & Alimony, etc. we can help! Call us now at(818) 926-4420. We look forward to hearing from you and assisting you with any and all family law needs.