Wage Garnishment on bill belonging to husband

[Xaviar]

What is the name of your state? Nebraska

My girlfriend is currently in the prosses of divorce from her husband who's in jail but they have been seperated (not legally) for 4 years an her wages are being garnished for a medical bill that was entirely on her husband (mental institution that he enrolled himself into) the bill is upwards of 23,000 dollars an they are taken almost her entire paycheck at one shot. Is it legal to even garnish her paycheck for a bill she had nothing to do with (they were seperated at the time he enrolled in the institution)??????? And can she put it in the divorce an make him responsible for the bill?

 

[Beth3]

Is it legal to even garnish her paycheck for a bill she had nothing to do with Yes. She was still married to him at the time and thus equally responsible for the debt. If he can't or won't pay it, the bill collectors get to come after her.

And can she put it in the divorce an make him responsible for the bill? Ya got me. You may want to ask this on the Family Law board here.

 

[divgradcurl]

And can she put it in the divorce an make him responsible for the bill?

Yes.

However, the bigger question is, why is she responsible at all for the debt in the first place? Did she cosign anything? Nebraska is NOT a community property state, so a creditor to one spouse cannot come after the nonmarital assets of the other spouse.

However, since they are not legally seperated, her income may be seen by Nebraska as a "marital asset" and subject to garnishment. If she gets a legal seperation, or a divorce, then the creditor should not be able to touch her income, as it would then be a seperate asset.

Now, if she co-signed for the debt, or otherwise took legal responsibility for the debt, then while a divorce decree may make the husband responsible for the payments, the creditor is NOT required to follow the divorce decree, and can still go after any cosignor.

So, the important question is, why is she liable for the debt?