Originally Posted by
NYC_Chick 
No, debt does not expire after 7 years. The laws are sticky around this from what I have learned, but they were in contact with him and she was properly served with a lawsuit over it when he ignored debt collectors, which she obviously never knew about. Not paying it would have been both stupid and irresponsible of her, regardless of how the debt was accrrued. Fair? No, but legal? Yep.
I looked it up. It depends on the state. For example in Florida credit card debt expires 4 years after the last payment is made (in Michigan it's 6 years). It can stay on your credit report longer, but they can no longer legally sue to collect it--altho they can try to pressure you. Written contracts expire after 6 years in FL and MI, judgments after 20 (but have to be revalidated after 6) in FL and 6 in MI. Fed student loans, child support/alimony, taxes, and judicial fines never expire--but they can only be collected in the name of the person who accrued them--that's federal law.
Some states have it that ANY debt incurred during the marriage belongs to both, and some have it that only debts signed by both belong to both. In MI if your name is not on the debt, you are never liable for it.
The problem is, no matter what we all agree, you can't get blood from a turnip, and if he doesn't want to come clean, wife's kind of stuck.