Assets and debts

[quiltingbee]

My STBX is trying to make me take responsibility for half of a line of equity debt.  I know this is usually the norm -- you split the assets and the debts.  But what if the debts are for things that he is keeping -- like remodeling work on the house that he will keep, his car loan a big-screen TV and some furniture he's kept too.

I'm thinking if I have to pay for half of somehting, I should actually get half of it.  But I can't saw his truck in two and I can't saw out half the kitchen cabinets or saw the TV in two.  I could take half the furniture but I have no place to put it. 

What's been everyone else's experience with this?  My attorney is trying to get me out of any debt responsibility completely because most of it was incurred without my consent.

Thank you.

[livealittle]

You should pursue the line you have presented here.


the line of credit on the house is for items your stbx is keeping. He reaps all the benefit from the debt incurred and you reap none. You shouldn't have to pay for this, IMHO.

[m_t]

Thing is, you need to look at the overall picture, not just part of it. What use of the items he's incurred the debt on did you get? Was the remodeling work just done, or is it something that was done a while back but still being paid off? What about the assets you're getting? How do those divvy up? Are they also items which he paid for, or did you contribute?

[InDenial]

Is the house remodeling done? Presumably it will have increased the value of the house. And you are getting half that value, right?

If I were his lawyer, I would say that if you want half the value of the house after remodeling, then you need to pay half the debt for the remodeling work.

As for the furniture and TV, if he's keeping them, you would get half the value of them. So the question is: are you getting half the value of the EQUITY or half the value of the paid-off items? 

Say the TV is worth 2000, but there is 750 owed on it.  That means it has an equity of 1250. If he if offering you only half the equity (625) then he should have to take over the loan payments. However if you have to share the loan payments, then you get half of the full value (1000).

For a car loan, I think it's pretty standard that the person taking the car will have to take on the car loan payments. However the person signing over title gets half of the equity in the car (assuming it's a true loan and not a lease). The only way if would be fair for you to take half his car loan is if he's giving you half the paid-off value of the car.

You don't get half of everything, you get half of the value.  The value off the things you are keeping offsets the value of the things he is keeping. If the net value of what he is keeping is greater, he pays you cash for half the difference.