{"id":460,"date":"2011-05-05T08:00:09","date_gmt":"2011-05-05T15:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jacksonwhitelaw.com\/arizona-family-law\/?p=460"},"modified":"2022-12-15T11:56:01","modified_gmt":"2022-12-15T18:56:01","slug":"dividing-marital-debt-upon-divorce-arizona","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jacksonwhitelaw.com\/arizona-family-law\/blog\/dividing-marital-debt-upon-divorce-arizona\/","title":{"rendered":"Division of Debt in an Arizona Divorce: What You Need to Know"},"content":{"rendered":"
Just as community property is owned equally between spouses, so too is marital debt. Upon divorce<\/a>, or dissolution of marriage, in Arizona, any marital debt that exists is divided equitably between the spouses.<\/p>\n This means that each spouse takes a fair amount of the couple\u2019s overall debt that was accumulated during the marriage.<\/p>\n In Arizona, generally any type of debt that was acquired during a marriage is considered marital debt. In fact, it doesn\u2019t matter which spouse incurred the debt, as long as the debt was acquired during the marriage.<\/p>\n Marital debt can include both types of debt \u2013 secured and unsecured debt \u2013 and it doesn\u2019t matter if your name is specifically tied to the debt because Arizona is a community property state. For instance, if your credit card payment is in your spouse\u2019s name, it can still be considered marital and shared debt, even if your name is not on the credit card account.<\/p>\n This would be different, however, if the credit card was taken out before the marriage, in which case, the debt would remain the responsibility of the sole debtor who took out the credit line. There are exceptions to these general debt guidelines, and your attorney can discuss them at length during the divorce proceedings.<\/p>\n Types of marital debt could include:<\/p>\n When spouses cannot agree upon how to divide marital debt, the court will make the decision for them. In these cases, an experienced family law attorney can also assist in the division of marital debt upon divorce.<\/p>\n In either situation, when the spouses cannot agree to division on their own, the help of legal counsel may be required in order to protect the rights and responsibilities of each spouse. The complexities of marital debt may present legal challenges that the spouses can\u2019t manage without a qualified attorney.<\/p>\nMarital Debt Definitions<\/h2>\n
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Disagreements on Marital Debt<\/h2>\n
Need Help with Debt Division?<\/h2>\n