I have an ongoing dispute with Bank of America - Update in reply #57, and it's good news.

[freshwest]

21. Were you only legally separated or fully divorced when the account was open?

Are you in a community property state? I think those laws supersede whatever you did or didn't sign, although someone here may know differently. As I recall, the law was simply whatever debts or assets were joint during the years of marriage - period.

I ended up paying my ex-husband's debts that he had incurred while we were in the process of divorce. The IRS tried to make me pay his income taxes until I went to the federal courthouse to show them my 'married, filing separately' tax returns and petition for divorce. Others were not so lucky. I've known women who worked at jointly-owned businesses with their husbands who absconded with the proceeds and took off. Then they were stuck with tens of thousands of dollars taxes, debts, etc., they had to pay.

In my case, the IRS was easy to resolve the matter with, but all the creditors, including his student loan debtor, came after me because I was doing everything above board, accumulating assets but he was working under the table. They may consider you to still be married and you'll get stuck. It gave me an ulcer and took me a few years to pay off, but I finally did.

We were supposed to have an amicable, uncontested divorce but he dragged his feet for two years and my attorney said it was apparent he was taking advantage. I'd given him the cars, the house and all the goods and left with the clothes on my back for my peace of mind, and that was how we were going to divide things, but the creditors didn't care. So I had to file for a contested divorce to force him to come to court, since he didn't want the divorce finalized. It still took some years to get my credit back in good standing.

Good luck getting separated from this mess. I don't know if it's still done, but You might put one of those advertisements in your local newspaper. Saying 'As of (date), I (your name) am not responsible for any debts not incurred by myself.' Or something to that effect, as legal notice. And notify the credit reporting agencies that you are divorced.