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What steps to take to regain money lent to son in law?

Business 5 views 3 answers
I will try to make this as concise as possible. Our son in law borrowed $30K from us to finish his basement. Our financial adviser suggested we take out a loan against our investments rather than withdrawing from them. The son in law promised to pay us back when his house sold. The basement never got done and the house sold last year. He paid off $15K of it, but still owes us roughly $15K. My daughter is planning to file for divorce and now he says he will not pay us back. Is there any way to go to court to get this money back?

Attorney Answers

3
Stephen Harkess ·
You can sue for repayment of the money. The fact that he repaid half of the money will make it difficult for him to claim that it was a gift. Keep in mind that this debt, created during the marriage, is subject to division by a divorce court. This means that your daughter may be ordered to pay some or all of this debt as part of the divorce. She needs to keep that in mind and ensure that ultimate responsibility for this debt is addressed in her divorce orders.
0 upvotes
Sherry Caloia ·
Often times in divorce cases there are loans from the parents of one spouse or the other. These are difficult because the other spouse usually claims that it was a gift and not a loan and refuses to pay. In addition these debts are usually marital debts which are equally chargeable to both parties. If the finishing of the basement was of their family home and if they both have title to the home this would be a joint debt. If this was for a house that son in law owned separate and apart from the wife (acquired before the marriage maybe) and he sold it and kept the money as separate property then the debt could be his alone. This is very fact dependent and consulting a lawyer who knows divorce is advised. If it is not joint debt then your best bet may be to go to county court and file an action against son-in-law for the $15,000. Good luck.
0 upvotes

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