What Happens to Debt in a Florida Divorce?

Florida divides debt the same way it divides property. Debts either spouse took on during the marriage are presumed marital and split equitably, starting from an equal division, while debts from before the marriage stay with whoever incurred them. But the divorce judgment binds only you and your spouse — not your creditors.

Marital Debt vs. Nonmarital Debt

Florida is not a community property state. It is an equitable distribution state, and under Fla. Stat. § 61.075 the court handles “assets and liabilities” together. Debt is not an afterthought in a Florida divorce; it is half of the balance sheet.

Section 61.075(6)(a) defines marital liabilities as those “incurred during the marriage, individually by either spouse or jointly by them.” That middle phrase surprises people. A credit card in only your spouse’s name, used during the marriage, is presumptively marital debt, and § 61.075(8) says every liability incurred after the wedding is presumed marital unless someone proves otherwise.

Nonmarital liabilities, under § 61.075(6)(b), include debts either spouse brought into the marriage, debts excluded by a valid written agreement such as a prenup, and — importantly — any debt created by forgery or by one spouse signing the other’s name without authority. That debt belongs only to the spouse who signed, unless the other spouse later ratified it.

Timing matters too. Under § 61.075(7), the cut-off for classifying a debt as marital is the earliest of the date you sign a valid separation agreement, a date that agreement sets, or the date the petition for dissolution is filed. A card run up after filing is generally not marital debt.

How Florida Courts Divide Marital Debt

The court starts from the premise that the distribution of marital assets and liabilities should be equal. It can depart from equal only with justification under the factors in § 61.075(1), such as each spouse’s contributions to the marriage, their economic circumstances, the length of the marriage, and each spouse’s role in “the incurring of liabilities” to marital and nonmarital assets.

One factor deserves special attention. Section 61.075(1)(i) lets the court weigh the intentional dissipation, waste, depletion, or destruction of marital assets within two years before the petition was filed or at any time after. Gambling losses, spending on an affair, or draining accounts on the eve of divorce can shift more of the debt to the spouse responsible.

In a contested case, § 61.075(3)(c) requires the judgment to identify each marital liability and state which spouse is responsible for it. In practice the court looks at the whole balance sheet: a spouse who keeps the house may also take the mortgage, and a spouse who takes on more debt may receive more of the assets to even things out. The court can also order an equalizing payment under § 61.075(10), in a lump sum or in installments.

Why Your Creditors Are Not Bound by the Divorce

This is the part most people do not expect. A divorce judgment decides who, as between you and your former spouse, must pay a debt. Your lenders were not parties to the divorce, and their contracts do not change because a judge assigned the debt to your ex.

If both of you signed for a loan or card, the creditor can still collect from either of you. If your former spouse stops paying a joint account the judgment assigned to them, the late payments can appear on your credit report too, and the lender may sue you. Your remedy is against your ex — typically a motion to enforce the judgment in family court — not against the bank.

That is why a well-drafted settlement does more than assign debts. It requires the responsible spouse to refinance or pay off joint debts by a deadline, to close joint accounts, and to indemnify and hold the other spouse harmless. Where the house is involved, it may require a refinance that removes one spouse from the mortgage, or a sale if the refinance does not happen by a set date.

Common Debts and How They Are Usually Handled

Mortgages. The mortgage usually follows the house. If one spouse keeps the home, expect a refinance requirement; a quitclaim deed alone takes a name off the title but leaves both spouses on the loan.

Car loans. The loan normally goes with the vehicle, with the same refinance issue if both spouses signed.

Credit cards. Balances run up during the marriage are presumptively marital regardless of whose name is on the card. What the charges were for can matter: family groceries and school costs look very different from spending the court treats as dissipation.

Student loans. Loans taken out during the marriage fall within the statutory definition of marital liabilities, though the court may weigh who benefited from the degree when allocating them. Loans from before the marriage are nonmarital.

Taxes. If you filed joint federal returns, each spouse is generally liable for the full tax on those returns, whatever the divorce judgment says. The IRS has its own relief procedures for spouses in some situations, and they are worth asking a tax professional about.

Bankruptcy and Divorce Debt

If your former spouse files bankruptcy, the debts they owe to creditors may be discharged — and the creditor may then turn to you on any joint account. But the obligations your ex owes to you under the divorce are treated differently.

Domestic support obligations such as alimony and child support are never discharged. Property-settlement debts, including a promise to pay joint debts and hold you harmless, are excepted from discharge in Chapter 7 under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(15). Chapter 13 is different: § 1328(a) does not list § 523(a)(15), so those property-settlement debts can be discharged in a completed Chapter 13 plan. If bankruptcy is on the horizon for either of you, the timing and structure of the settlement matter, and it is worth coordinating family and bankruptcy advice before signing.

Handling Debt in a Miami-Dade Divorce

Miami-Dade divorces are filed in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit, and both spouses must complete a sworn financial affidavit and exchange financial documents as part of mandatory disclosure. That process is where debts get identified, so list every account — including cards in your spouse’s name only and any loans you co-signed for relatives.

Before and during the case, pull your own credit reports. The three national credit bureaus now provide free reports every week at AnnualCreditReport.com, which makes it easy to spot accounts you did not know about or balances that change while the case is pending. Keep paying joint accounts on time until the court or a signed agreement says otherwise, because a default hurts both of you.

Arturo R. Alfonso P.A. has helped Miami-Dade families through divorce in English and Spanish for 30 years, from Hialeah and Doral to Kendall and Homestead. If you are searching for a divorce lawyer near me because you are worried about joint debt, bring your recent statements and credit reports to a consultation so the settlement protects you from creditors as well as from your former spouse. Because the firm also practices bankruptcy law, it can see both sides of the problem at once.

Related Questions

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