As with many legal questions, the short answer is -- It depends.

        The general rule is that you are only responsible for your own debts, but a number of things can change that.  The following are the most common exceptions to the general rule:
                1) Both of you signed for the debt, such as an apartment rental or for a credit card, or for a loan
                    or for anything else you both agreed to be responsible for.
                2) You co-signed for his or her debt.
                3) You actually placed the order or individually signed the contract for the goods or services for
                    your spouse's benefit.
                4) You share a bank or checking account with both names on the account and a judgment
                    debtor of your spouse executes on the account.  (In other words, someone sued your spouse,
                    got a judgment, and is now garnishing or levying on your shared account to satisfy your
                    spouse's debt.   To avoid this, once a judgment is entered against your spouse, keep his or
                    her name off of the accounts and make sure they do not have the power to make withdrawals
                    or write checks on the account.)
                5) The "doctrine of necessaries" -- in other words the idea that you should be responsible for the
                    "necessaries" provided to your spouse.  "Necessaries" are the things required for survival,
                    including reasonable food, clothing, shelter and medical care -- you can be required to pay
                    these.

        But if your spouse applied for credit alone, without you as a co-signer or without your name and signature also on the account, then you generally have no legal responsibility for that debt.... unless the credit was used for furnishing "necessaries" you could have been required to pay for.

        If your spouse owed money before you got married, you don't have to pay that debt simply because you two got married.  In fact you can't be required to pay those bills unless you have signed a written agreement to pay -- a mere oral promise is not good enough to legally require you to pay.

       Under Tennessee law, either spouse can hold property separately.  Property held jointly by husband and wife is presumed to be held as tenants by the entirety, but this presumption may be rebutted.  As tenants by the entirety, each spouse has the right to use and occupy the property, and also a right of survivorship.  This "right of survivorship" means that when a spouse dies, the surviving spouse owns the property free and clear of the claims of heirs or the deceased spouse's creditors.

        If one spouse individually incurs a debt after marriage, the creditors are limited in their recovery to that spouse's individual property or garnishing that spouse's individual earnings.  If the spouse who owes the debts has no property of his or her own and dies before the other spouse, creditors would be entitled to nothing of the property owned by the surviving spouse.

        But not all debts are the result of a purchase or a contract.  Sometimes debts result from a lawsuit or claim coming from an accident or injury.  Generally, a married person is not liable for any injury or damages caused to another by his or her spouse.  The most important exception to this rule might be with motor vehicles, under what courts call the "family purpose doctrine."  If you make your car available to your spouse (or a child living with you) and it's for a "family purpose", then you're liable for any negligence of the family member driving.  And if your spouse initially takes the car for a family purpose, such as getting a gallon of milk, and then takes the car off to do something that is clearly NOT a family purpose (such as a rendevouz for an affair), you still get stuck.  But if the car actually belongs to your spouse, is titled to the spouse, your spouse only uses his or her own money to operate it, and it's not being used for general family benefit, then the family purpose doctrine will not come into play.

        A person injured in an accident is treated the same as any other creditor.  If only one spouse is found liable to the injured person, then the injured person must seek recovery from property held by the debtor spouse individually or be limited to that spouse's right of survivorship in property held as tenants by the entirety.

Click here to e-mail questions, suggestions or corrections regarding this page.

                                               Disclosure on Non-Representation Link
                                               Disclosures on Certification of Specialization Link