Morris County NJ Marital Debt Attorney

Looking Forward  to Serving our Family Law clients in towns across New Jersey and Morris County, including Morristown, Madison, Randolph, and Florham Park

In many circumstances, the debate on marital debt can not be answered with simple yes or no. There are certain debts that are equitably distributed in New Jersey, for example, credit cards, some bank loans, your mortgage and so forth… With that said, there are a number of financial circumstances where one party in the marriage can and should be held solely responsible for debts incurred during the term of the marriage. Understanding the legal guidelines that dictate financial responsibility can be complicated and often overwhelming.

The dedicated Divorce and Family Law at Jacobs Berger encourage anyone going through the divorce process reach out for assistance from qualified counsel to make sure rights a being protected.

Often times people come into a divorce believing that so long as the debt that is accumulated during the marriage isn’t in my name (a big example would be credit card debt) that I don’t have a responsibility for that. There are often times that we see spouses where they may have certain credit cards in, perhaps the husband’s name and certain credit cards perhaps in the wife’s name, and they think that “well, he accumulated the debt on his cards”, or “she accumulated the debt on her cards”, and therefore I’m not responsible for the debt in the other party’s name.

New Jersey Law Does Not Always Mean a 50/50 Split of Debt

In New Jersey, however, any debt that is accumulated during the marriage is generally considered a marital debt that is subject to distribution within an equitable distribution. There has to be some sharing of that and whether that sharing is 50/50 or could be in some other manner that’s generally what happens. There are arguments to be made that the debt should be one spouse’s responsibility and it’s not as simple as I didn’t know about it. There is often more facts and circumstances involved with that, perhaps if they are engaging in something that is inappropriate in accumulating that debt; that could be an argument as to why that’s a separate debt that should not be the responsibility of both spouses at the time of the divorce.

However most debt, even if just happens to be titled in just the husband’s name or just the wife’s name or in both spouses´ name, if it’s incurred during the marriage and generally is for marital purposes, it’s usually considered a marital debt and it is to be shared in some manner between the parties.

Call Our Parsippany Divorce Marital Debt Attorneys Today

Divorce is not an easy topic to deal with it, and when money comes into play, things can be even more difficult to settle. The issues involving divorce and money are very complicated. It is important to have the assistance of a highly skilled Morris County divorce attorney who knows New Jersey family law and who will be able to analyze your unique situation and guide you through the process step by step.

At Jacobs Berger, we want to guide you and give you the proper advice to handle your situation, call us at (973) 710-4366 for a confidential case evaluation.