Please Veteran in need of help. I really don't like to ask for hand outs but it has come to this, I recently got out of the service after spending two tours in Iraq, and coming home was supposed to be a happy time. instead i was met with divorce papers from my wife of three years and everything I owned including family aurlooms gone and sold for dope money by my ex wife. along with credit card bills so high that i am in fear of having to file for bankruptsy, I am currently looking for work and barley surviving on a $197 a week un-emplyment check I have not been able to find work since i have gotten out and anything that i can find available I am quickly looked over and some one else is hired instead. they say the military will help you suceed in the world when you get out, yeah right, I have not seen a dime from my veterans disability and I would not even as so much send an animal to there so called medical treatment centers. I have gone through alot in the last 7 years, maybe not as much as some on this site, but if i was in the position to help them I would. since i am not and i am in desperate need. please if after reading this you can find it in your heart to help I would be more than greatful. thank you for listening
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About usvet2003
Don't assume that a divorce will erase any debt. If you live in a community property state, debt -- like your assets -- will be split down the middle. You will be responsible for half of all debt in jointly held accounts and, in some cases, for half of a spouse's individual debt as well.
If you don't live in a community property state, you remain responsible for your individual debt (but not your spouse's) and any debt in jointly held accounts. One important trap to avoid is maintaining joint accounts after the divorce. Your spouse could continue running up expenses and leave you with the debt. As soon as the divorce is finalized, freeze all joint accounts and have your creditors reclassify them as individual accounts. Most creditors will do this at your request, though they are not legally required to do so. To protect your credit rating, make sure to keep up with monthly payments.
In addition, include the payment of debt as part of the settlement. Take on the responsibility for the debt yourself, if necessary, and take a share of the assets to pay the debt down.
If you and your spouse own a home that has appreciated in value, you may want to sell it before the divorce is finalized. Federal tax rules offer an exclusion of up to $500,000 in realized capital gains for married taxpayers. This amount is cut in half for single filers. Be sure to consult a tax advisor for additional information about these rules.
The following link to Nevada Marital Rights is a good link to help you. I suggest you contact a family law attorney right away if the debts occurred within the last two years because of Statute of Limitations to take action is ending. Your Nevada law states:
NRS 123.030 How husband and wife may hold property. A husband and wife may hold real or personal property as joint tenants, tenants in common, or as community property.
[8:119:1873; B § 158; BH § 506; C § 517; RL § 2162; NCL § 3362]—(NRS A 1959, 408).
There is no authority in Nevada for the proposition that a division of debt in divorce may be modified for any reason. It would be possible to construct several logical reasons to allow such modifications, such as changed circumstances during the anticipated term of debt repayment. The case law, however, appears to presume that the debt terms set out in the decree are absolute, and that other terms, such as alimony, or property division, will be amended to enforce the debt division. See Martin v. Martin, 108 Nev. 384, 832 P.2d 390 (1992), Allen v. Allen, 112 Nev. ___, ___ P.2d ___ (Adv. Opn. No. 149, Oct. 22, 1996).
While there is no significant appellate authority on the subject, proceedings in the lower courts to enforce debt payment terms by less drastic means (primarily, contempt sanctions) are common.
There have not been, to date, any holdings on the permissibility of tort claims (e.g., for credit impairment, or even intentional infliction of emotional distress) by the injured spouse against the former spouse who defaulted on the debt. The Nevada Supreme Court has indicated that when a party hides or eliminates community property, an unequal distribution of the remaining property is appropriate.
Perhaps a claim sounding in tort, could be brought for "wrongful debt" analogized to waste of community property; perhaps a contract claim based on a property settlement agreement incorporating a debt division could be brought. Secure authority for such claims does not appear to exist at this time.
Things are less cheery for creditors pursuing premarital debt, or a debt incurred by only one of the spouses after marriage. As indicated above, there appear to be few exceptions to the statutory security of NRS 123.050 of each spouse to half of the community property, so half the wages of the spouse who had the premarital debt are unavailable at the moment they are earned. Rodgers v. Rodgers, 110 Nev. 1370, 887 P.2d 269 (1994); Lewis v. Hicks, 108 Nev. 1107, 843 P.2d 828 (1992); contra, Phillips v. Morrow, 104 Nev. 384, 760 P.2d 115 (1988).
Nevada does, however, recognize "the doctrine of necessaries." NRS 123.090 provides:
If the husband neglects to make adequate provision for the support of his wife, any other person may in good faith supply her with articles necessary for her support, and recover the reasonable value thereof from the husband. The separate property of the husband is liable for the cost of such necessities if the community property of the spouses is not sufficient to satisfy such debt.
To me, the meaning is that since you were an active duty soldier and without knowledge of your wife's debt--you could argue that you are not liable for her debts under NRS 123.090.
However, Nevada law states that you are responsible for half of your wife's debt after the divorce is finalized.
In addition, I was a soldier also, in which case the military loves to wrangle young men who haven't matured with testosterone messing up their logical thinking.
I visited the VA hospital many times, in which case I think it is a crime to go to war without justifying the outcomes.
Brighan
