Paying off share of loan - interest charges

My ex has debt that is in his name, but I am offering to pay half. The debt is a mixture of loan, overdraft and credit card.

What I wish to do is take out my own loan and pay my half as a lump sum. My ex is making noises about interest charges, but I think I should not be liable for those after I pay my share. Am I missing anything?

Is there anything else I should be wary of?

Thanks

testytest

Welcome to wikivorce. I hope you find it helpful.

Were you married? Are you going through a divorce?

The thing is, if the debt is in his name, it is he who is liable for paying it. However, if it was a marital debt - ie benefited both of you - then it would be taken into account when finances are settled.

My worry about taking out a loan to pay off this debt would be that you are then saddled with a debt of your own .. and there may be no guarantee that he actually uses the money to reduce the debt in his name.

Hadenoughnow

Thanks

I am still married - we are planning to wait until October so we can have a no-blame divorce ­base­d on separation for two years. It is in his name but is generally a marital debt.

At the moment I am paying him a sum every month towards the management of the debt. What I want to do is have it settled finally so that my debt is to the bank rather than to him. I am planning to get something in writing that specifies my payment to him is a final payment intended to cover my half of the debt.

What do you think about the interest question?

There are early repayment clauses with some loans so I guess it would be wise to find out if any of those apply to part payment and make sure they are covered.

You will be paying interest on the loan you take out for your "share" so it would be iniquitous for you to pay interest on the remaining debt i.e. his "share".

What you should think about is how the financial split will work on divorce .. is this debt something that can be offset against other assets? Have you a property, pensions etc? How long is the marriage? Are there children to consider? What are you respective ages and incomes?

I would be sure, whatever you do that you have a VERY clear paper trail. There is a danger that the loan you take - because it is post separation - could lead to that debt not being counted as marital unless you can be very clear about how it arose.

Hadenoughnow

Thanks again

Roughly half of the debt is overdraft and credit card - the idea is that he pays off those parts and continues with the existing loan (he can manage that as he wishes).

General circumstances - no property, no kids, a small pension pot each, similar age (late thirties)and similar incomes. We are mostly keeping things amicable - I want to keep it that way if possible. I mostly wanted an independent opinion on the interest part

It would be very sensible to pay off those debts that are costing the most in interest ... cc interest rates are ruinous. That should make his monthly payments much more manageable.

Are you able to make the payments directly? It may be worth doing this if you can.

If you are able to keep things amicable then you can do for a low cost divorce - have a look at the wiki services (r of page) - and a consent order to sort the finances so neither of you has any comeback.

Hadenoughnow

Thanks - that's really helpful