Judgment against my husband, is account in my name only safe?

[krnewell]

My husband received a default judgment after we were married. Of course when we got married, I added him to my bank accounts. Last week they were cleaned out by the lawyer for the judgment. I understand these accounts are "dead".

If I go to a new bank and open up a checking account in my name only, will it be safe? Can they come after it too, if the judgment is only in my husbands name?

We are going to try to negotiate the judgment and pay it off, but in the mean time we need to be able to pay bills, receive my paycheck, etc. and I want to know if this will work.

Thanks for your help.

[trueq]

If you are in a community property state, its problematic.

See the following link and read the last article:(SPOUSAL OBLIGATIONS UNDER THE DOCTRINE OF NECESSARIES)

http://www.kohnlaw.com/site_uploads/newsletter/newsletter21_2.pdf

Its written by a debt collection lawyer!

This is what you can expect.

My advice is to make a deal or make a payment plan with them, if you are not going to challenge or vacate the judgment.

Otherwise, they will "pop up" like this on bank accounts, assets, wage garnishment, until the judgment is satisfied.

Avoidance will get you more of what you are complaining about.

If you are in a non-community property state, opening a bank account in your maiden name might help, but is no guarantee!

[debtorshusband]

It's my understanding that regardless of whether or not you're in a community property state, a joint account is fair game for a judgment against either spouse, but a separate account is not.

You can tell from my username that this is a subject I'm very interested in, and it's my belief that if there's a judgment against Mr. Krnewell, the only way they can levy a bank account that's in the name of Mrs. Krnewell only is by subsequently getting a judgment against Mrs. Krnewell.

DH

[krnewell]

Debtorshusband - I could definitely use some support from another spouse! Thanks for your reply.

We aren't avoiding the judgment. In fact, we're trying to pay it off and are negotiating the payoff with the lawyers. This will be better because they're willing to settle for less than the full amount. And then we can close the book on this one. Its just that it's going to take us a month or so to come up with the money so I'm trying to figure out what we can do in the interim.

I really want to find out if I can open up a new checking account at another bank and be safe or if the CA can come after this new account just because I'm the spouse.

Does anyone know anything about this? Thanks for your help.

[gypsie]

Lady in Red is an expert on community property regulations. So maybe she'll jump in on this.

I know the debt occurred before your marriage, but the judgment occurred after your marriage.

For now, IMO- I would pay bills with money orders until you know for sure you can not be garnished. It know that's a PIA, but why risk losing all your paycheck?

If she doesn't respond, maybe you should post in the lawyer forum.

[debtorshusband]

This very question was posted to another site. The link is here

DH

[krnewell]

Thanks for the link. It made it sound like I would probably be safe opening an account. But I think I've been convinced at this point to not take the chance. I've already deactivated auto pay on most of our accounts so most of the work is done.

It's very frustrating for sure, being the spouse of poor credit. But we just have to hang in there right?!