{"id":32462,"date":"2008-03-26T16:35:41","date_gmt":"2008-03-26T21:35:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-legal\/uncategorized\/family-debt-after-divorce.html"},"modified":"2008-03-26T16:35:41","modified_gmt":"2008-03-26T21:35:41","slug":"family-debt-after-divorce","status":"publish","type":"corporate","link":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/finance\/family-debt-after-divorce.html","title":{"rendered":"Family Debt After Divorce"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline\">\n    <div class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-content\">\n                    <p><em>This article was edited and reviewed by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/company\/our-team.html\" rel=\"noopener\">FindLaw Attorney Writers<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n                | Last reviewed\n        <time>\n                            May 14, 2026\n                    <\/time>\n    <\/div>\n\n    \n    <details class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-toggle fl-gutenberg-byline-legally-reviewed\">\n        <summary>\n            <i class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-icon\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>\n            Legally Reviewed\n        <\/summary>\n\n        <div class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-toggle-content\">\n            <p><em>This article has been written and reviewed for legal accuracy, clarity, and style by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/company\/our-team.html\" rel=\"noopener\">FindLaw\u2019s team of legal writers and attorneys<\/a> and in accordance with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/company\/company-history\/editorial-policy.html\" rel=\"noopener\">our editorial standards<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/details>\n\n    <details class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-toggle fl-gutenberg-byline-fast-checked\">\n        <summary>\n            <i class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-icon\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>\n            Fact-Checked\n        <\/summary>\n\n        <div class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-toggle-content\">\n            <p><em>The last updated date refers to the last time this article was reviewed by FindLaw or one of our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/company\/our-team\/contributing-authors.html\" rel=\"noopener\">contributing authors<\/a>. We make every effort to keep our articles updated. For information regarding a specific legal issue affecting you, please <a href=\"https:\/\/lawyers.findlaw.com\/?fli=bylinelink\" rel=\"noopener\">contact an attorney in your area<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/details>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"rxbodyfield\" xmlns:o=\"urn:www.microsoft.com\/office\" xmlns:st1=\"urn:www.microsoft.com\/smarttags\" xmlns:w=\"urn:www.microsoft.com\/word\" xmlns:x=\"urn:www.microsoft.com\/excel\"><p>Acknowledging social changes, Congress recently rewrote some of the debt guidelines involving divorced couples whose financial lives remain entwined.<\/p><ul><li><i>The &quot;Innocent Spouse&quot; Bill.<\/i> This bill was recently passed as part of a larger IRS reform. It helps divorced individuals who owe back taxes for debts that were incurred by signing a joint return. The individual can now file as an &quot;innocent spouse&quot; and be relieved of paying back taxes that are really the responsibility of the ex-spouse.<\/li><li><i>The Separate Liability Election.<\/i> This provision addresses individuals living apart for at least 12 months from the time a joint return, on which taxes are still owed, was signed. Using the &quot;separate liability election,&quot; the individual can now have the liability for the debt limited to only the items that are directly allocable to the individual.<\/li><li><i>402(k) and Retirement Benefits.<\/i> Although both partners in a marriage can expect to benefit equally from each other&#39;s retirement funds, Congress last year vetoed a provision that would have required spousal approval for any withdrawals from retirement funds. The veto leaves open the ability for a vindictive spouse to &quot;raid&quot; a retirement fund and effectively erase its assets.<\/li><li><i>Credit card debt.<\/i> Debt incurred on a joint account remains the responsibility of the cosigners until the account is paid in full, no matter what a judge decided in court. In other words, VISA is not involved in divorce decrees!<\/li><\/ul><br\/><br\/><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Acknowledging social changes, Congress recently rewrote some of the debt guidelines involving divorced couples whose financial lives remain entwined &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_stopmodifiedupdate":true,"_modified_date":"","_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false},"corporate_categories":[6480,6484,6479,6483],"class_list":["post-32462","corporate","type-corporate","status-publish","hentry","corporate_categories-finance__bankruptcy","corporate_categories-finance__tax__federal-tax","corporate_categories-finance","corporate_categories-finance__tax"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/corporate\/32462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/corporate"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/corporate"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"corporate_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corporate.findlaw.com\/legal-api\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/corporate_categories?post=32462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}