During a divorce, most couples focus on the assets and forget about marital debts. Debt is such a contentious topic, and it triggers all kinds of emotions and misunderstandings.
In Ohio, all the debts belong to both parties, and the separating couple usually splits them equally. However, there are other approaches to the division of debts to consider as well.
It is important to establish who took the debt and the beneficiary of the assets for which the debt is owed. Because a credit card holder has it in his/her name, they will have to offset as individuals. Similarly, even if you bought a property like a car together, the party that takes its ownership after divorce assumes the responsibility for the loans.
Although debts are distributed equally, if one of the parties accumulated the debt recklessly, then he/she has to take responsibility as an individual. Just like in the division of marital property in Ohio, the court seeks to ensure that parties do not pay for debts they did not incur. In short, the court only will distribute a debt between the two individuals if taking it on benefited both of them.
Debt division can cause many disagreements as you try to determine shared and separate liabilities. As such, it’s important to involve an experienced family law attorney who understands how to handle such matters.