JEFFREY A. & ANDREW GROSSMAN

The Columbus Dispatch

Q: My ex-husband has been out of work for several months. When he lost his job, he quit paying child support. He is way behind on his obligation to pay two credit-card accounts that were in both of our names. He was ordered to pay those accounts, but he never took my name off them. I’m getting letters from the bank telling me that my credit will be ruined if I fail to make the monthly payments. Why is the bank bothering me when it was my husband who was ordered to pay? Without child support, I cannot possibly make those payments. What can I do to protect myself? Also, why is my ex-husband allowed to sit around and do nothing and ignore paying support? Obviously, he has figured out how to live without a job. He said there is nothing I can do about it because he has no income.

A: These are difficult and increasingly frequent questions, given the state of the economy. Joint credit-card accounts are often allocated to one of the parties in a divorce. However, because the court cannot affect the rights of a third-party creditor (your credit-card company), the divorce decree can merely specify that your ex is the one responsible for paying the bills. If he does not, the credit company still has the right to come after you for the balance. You, in turn, have to go back to court against him for violating the court order.

Source: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/life/stories/2009/12/06/wholly_matrimony.html?sid=101