I have just gotten my final divorce decree, during our marriage I co-signed a student loan for our son, he has not paid and the lender is coming after me can I get my wife to pay half but this was not in our community debt/property as part as the divorce
Bradley David MccormackBankruptcy AttorneyKansas City, MO ·
If you are a co-signor you are responsible in the case of default. The divorce decree would not trump your co-signing obligation. Only the student loan company can relieve you of your responsibility on the loan.
Lisa Jane EspadaDebt Collection AttorneySan Francisco, CACA licensed ·
If you co-signed, then yes, you are responsible for the debt if your son defaulted.
Whether you can get your ex wife to share the debt (though it wasn't included in the divorce settlement) -- that is a question for your family law attorney. You can always try to get a voluntary agreement that it will be shared.
Only full repayment of the debt will make you no longer responsible. What a divorce decree does or does not say has no impact on the creditor's rights to pursue someone who is a signer, even a cosigner, on a loan. Hope this perspective helps!
You signed as a co-obligor with your son. You both are jointly and individually responsible for the whole amount. If your ex did not sign the student loan, then you cannot impute your wife onto the loan. That being said, it seems to me that this issue was not addressed in the Family Law Court and perhaps it should have been. If either your son or yourself need assistance with dealing with student loans, feel free to contact a California Attorney with student loan law experience.
If you cosigned for the debt, you are responsible for the debt. It does not matter who the primary borrower is. Both people are cosigners and therefore responsible.
With regards to making your wife pay half? You can try to go into family court to change the divorce decree to mention the division of debt. If the divorce decree states that your former spouse must pay half the debt, then you can go after her in family court. However, keep in mind that even if the divorce decree stated that your former spouse was to pay half, you would still be responsible to the lender to pay the debt. If she doesn't pay the debt, the lender can still come after you.
Co-signing means something. If the primary obligor does not pay, the co-signer does. Divorce cannot remove your name from the note. If your ex did not sign, it is unlikely you can get her to reimburse you for half of what you pay. To be sure, check with your divorce lawyer.
If simply getting divorced relieved parties of loan debts to third parties, the divorce rate would be even higher. Yes, if you co-signed, your divorce has no bearing on your obligation to the lender.
You can ask all you want, but since you co-signed with your son, you are 100% responsible for the debt. unless you want to re-open the divorce property settlement agreement and try to get this debt listed as a community debt. I can't can't imagine your ex-wife or her attorney letting you do that without a horrendous fight.
