[K C Muffin]

Well, my ex (husband - although I loathe that word in his instance) ran up credit cards that were issued in my name and his signature was accepted. Like you, lurker, it's hard to stop that flow of credit card offers and even harder to stop them from printing checks with your statement. They were all used. I didn't know about most of them, because the mail was already in the house and sorted when I got home. I found out about them when I started getting the bills after we split up. One card wanted an $800. minimum payment. Well, my rent was only $425 (tough neighborhood). Even with a second job, I couldn't afford even one $800 credit card with 2 growing boys in the house. There was no child support. He even hid our income tax liability from me and when he quit making the $75 a month payments on that, they froze my bank account. I found out real fast how hard they can make life. But not for him, who had changed banks. He still owned the house (which I gave him because I wanted nothing to do with the liabilities from it), still worked, but they caught up with me. And made it stick. Yeah, my life has changed for the better, now. But I had to be tough with my boys about what we could have and what we couldn't and why we couldn't eat meat even once a week. I think they remember that too and have vowed to never do that. The filing fee up here was $625 - my dad paid that. Even he, the most honest guy in the world, didn't see a way out for me.

We all blame the ex's, but the divorce laws are written such that each party is supposed to be a responsible adult and it just ain't so.