We were involved in a vehicle accident(mexico) and the rental company charged the damages to my card. All worked out because the insurance company then paid for the hospital bills ($10K). While married a few payments were made. Now divorcing he's no longer making payments to me since my parents paid off my debts. The interest charges were to high and they tried to help us out. He promised to pay and is leaving me penniless during our separation and divorce. At the time it was illegal for him to make the charge I trusted his word to pay. Didn't want to press charges for forging my signature or theft of the card. Do I have any legal rights? This all happened 5 years ago if that matters
Richard Eric Anthony DwyerDivorce / Separation LawyerMountain View, CA ·
You definitely have rights. The statute of limitations for breach of written contract is four years (for oral, two), and does not start running until the breach occurs.
If the breach -- not the accident, but the breach -- of contract occurred within the last 4 years (or two for an oral contract), you can sue your ex in civil court for breach of contract.
Your best route would be to handle this in family court. Any debt incurred during marriage is community debt... so is joint debt incurred prior to marriage. This debt was put on your card, but was for both of you. Arguably, that means this debt is half his. That saves you from having to file an additional civil claim with the courts.
Your problem would be with evidence: unless he admits to the circumstances of the debt, you will have to prove that it happened as set forth above. Documents that would help, among others, would be the document showing the joint rental of the vehicle that caused the problem; anything the two of you signed regarding the debt; anything showing your credit card was used to pay the debt; and of course the credit card statements showing the debt was carried into and reaffirmed during marriage.
I think you should consult with an attorney about this, to assist you with the evidentiary problems, but if this is the only problem with the dissolution you will have to ask yourself, before hiring the attorney, "Is the juice worth the squeeze?" Because you can pay an attorney a lot more than $4,000 to chase down and argue those problems, originating in another country, and getting that before the court in the form of competent evidence.
Daniel Victor BurkeFamily Law AttorneyCarlsbad, CA ·
Because you have waited so long you may have no direct right to proceed against him specifically for the transaction of which you complain. However, becasue you are now in the process of a divorce you will want the court to know of these facts when addressing the issues of spousal support and property division. The divorce court is sometimes called a court of equity which arguably allows the court to do what is just and fair. Yet, most often the courts exercise of discretion in ascertaining what is just and fair is speeled out in various statutes and appellate court cases interprpeting the law so Courts frequently reserve their administration of justice to specifically authorized claims. A claim for a premarital event which created a liability which was then voluntarily paid (as a gift) by one of the parents of a spouse is not, to my knowledge a specifically authorized claim.
