Legal Question in Family Law in Washington

Re: Divorce

Title and mortgage are two entirely separate things. You can not be on the deed and still be obligated on the mortgage instrument, because you agreed to pay that obligation back when the two of you were married.

Third party creditors are not parties to divorces and their interests are not determined thereby. You still have obligations whether or not you are still on the deed.

Hope that helps - Elizabeth Powell

Re: Divorce

The court could allocate the debt(s) to one party and the property to the other, but generally the property and debt go together. Ms Powell is correct that however the court allocates the debt has no effect on the rights of the creditor to recover from any party who is signed on to the debt. A decree may also include a hold harmless clause which provides that a party that was not responsible for a debt under the decree, but who none-the-less has paid it because of they were on the contract and the party who was supposed to pay it failed, has a right of recovery from the other party, often the hold harmless clause is of limited value