Last updated on April 8, 2021
Are you one of the many Georgia spouses who will be getting divorced this year? Do you or does your spouse still have some student load debt left to repay? If so, you should be prepared for this to potentially factor into your divorce settlement.
According to Daily Worth, it may not be safe to assume that student loans are the sole property and therefore responsibility of the spouse who took out the loans. While certainly loan documents are signed by one spouse only and any degree obtained is the property of that person only, many other factors may come to bear in determining ultimate responsibility for these debts.
Courts atmay evaluate to what extent both spouses benefitted from the education funded by the loans. For example, did the education of one spouse provide for an income and lifestyle enjoyed by both people not otherwise feasible? Were funds from student loans used to pay for living needs that supported both persons while the one was in school? Affirmative answers to these questions may well open the door to some shared responsibility for student loan liabilities in a divorce. The length of time that has elapsed since the debt was incurred and the date of the divorce might also play a role as that would contribute to the other spouse’s ability to benefit from the investment.
