Family Law Overview

The Law Office of Jeffrey Miller
4800 N. Scottsdale Rd., Suite 6000
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
Phone: 480-222-2200

The Law Office of Jeffrey Miller offers a variety of payment plans. We accept all major credit cards.

Allocation of Debt

In a divorce/family law case, the court must allocate the debts of the spouses. Basically, there are two forms of debt. The first is community debt. Community debt generally consists of debt accrued during marriage. All debts accrued during marriage are presumed to be community. There are certain exceptions to the presumption of community debt, but rebutting that presumption is difficult to do. The second form of debt is sole and separate debt. This debt generally consists of debts incurred prior to marriage, and debts incurred after a divorce/family law action is filed and served upon the opposing party.

The divorce/family law court attempts to equitably divide the community debt and assign the sole and separate debt to the party who should be responsible for its payment. An equitable division of the community debt does not necessarily mean a one-half division of the debt to each party. Factors such as the reason for the making of the debt, which person will retain personal property that maybe the subject of the debt and other issues will impact upon who ultimately receives what portion of the community debt.

If you have issues of community and sole and separate debt, you should contact this office to schedule and appointment to determine what yours options are.