The loan and credit card companies cannot go after you for debts that are in your husband’s sole name. You should make sure that all of the debts are in his name only.
If you were to separate and divorce and, assuming you had other assets, your husband might argue that his debts should be paid from the other assets before they were split between you. If the debts have been built up for joint purposes then he would probably succeed in that argument.
However, I am assuming from what you have said that there are no other assets – the house is fully mortgaged and has no equity. If that is right then the court cannot apportion debt between a divorcing couple and there will be no option but for the debts to remain his responsibility.
The house is more problematic. If you have a 100% mortgage and there is no equity there may not be enough to pay the mortgage and sale costs if it were to be sold as part of the settlement. It may be there are also penalties payable if the mortgage is paid off before the deal comes to an end. On this basis it would not be sensible for there to be a sale.
Therefore if you do separate and your husband remains in the property you will need to make sure that he is paying the mortgage. The lender will not release you from the mortgage when it is so high and so you will remain what is called ‘jointly and severally’ liable for the debt. This means that if your husband doesn’t pay the mortgage, the lender can come after you for payment. If you do leave you should give the lender your contact details and ask them to keep you informed and copy you in on all correspondence that goes to your husband.
It may be that the property should be sold after the five-year deal comes to an end or it may be, at that stage, you could be released from the mortgage. Is it a possibility that you could remain in the property and fund the mortgage if your husband were to leave? You should take some advice about this.
If your husband earns double what you do it may be that he should also pay you maintenance. However, if he has substantial debt payments and has to fund a significant mortgage it may be doubtful that he can do this. You should take advice. Both you and your husband will need to produce a budget setting out your income and expenditure before anyone will be able to advise you whether maintenance is appropriate and, if so, how much and for how long.
The other issue you should think about is pension. If either or both of you have a pension it may be that there should also be a pensions sharing order (where the pension is divided). Certainly you should expect to end up with broadly equal pensions.
If you are looking for specialist family law advice you should look at the web site of the family law group Resolution– where you will be able to find specialist family lawyers in your area. I hope this helps.
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