Here are the details of our divorce:
We have only been married three years. I own the house in my name only, which I bought six months before we got married.
We have no children.
She left me and abandoned me. She cheated on me. The state where I live is a no-fault divorce state. (Contrary to my username, I don’t live in California.)
We are nearly broke now. I have tons of credit card debt now as I tried to start a small business and haven’t had much income for a while now. The credit card debt was run up by both of us, as most of the debt is a result of not having enough income. About ,000 of the debt is hers from a previous credit card. About ,000 is from my business. There is a lot more credit card debt from both of us.
If things continue as they have been, I’ll wind up in bankruptcy and foreclosure in about a year. I recently went back to work full-time, and I am trying to make enough money to continue paying the mortgage every month.
If I hire an expensive attorney, I’ll wind up in bankruptcy from all of the attorney fees.
If we can keep things agreeable, then I think we might be able to file a cheap divorce and just get it over with.
I’m fine taking on the debt if I don’t have to short sale my home or foreclose on the home.
I found out recently that my wife was hiding some money in another bank account from a 401K from her old job. It was roughly 00. I never saw this money until we lost 0 in our tax return this year from paying taxes on it. My wife also ran up thousands of dollars in prescription drug bills and medical procedures she didn’t need.
Our finances are still joined right now with a joint bank account and one credit card.
While I think she should be stuck with some of the debt, I would rather just get it over with. She has nearly destroyed my life and almost completely destroyed our finances.
What do you think? Should I hire a lawyer and go after her, or just try to be amicable and get out as fast as I can? What liabilities may I be subjecting myself to if we try to do it cheap?
I’ve heard you can’t close a joint checking account if both people aren’t there together.