My stbx and I have been separated for gong on 6 months. I left the marital home and the stbx has remained there. We have mounting debt that both of us have built throughout the marriage. My stbx has not worked for the last 5 years although he is physically and mentally able and has worked in the past. Almost 100% of my income goes towards debt and bills for the marital home that I no longer live in. I have asked the stbx to seek employment so that we can both move on with our lives but he now refuses to do so. I have a 2 part question; 1) The house is in both of our names and I want to list the house for sale in order to eliminate the large majority of our debts, can I do this or force the stbx to buy me out? 2) Do you forsee any legal implications in me paying only on debts that are in my name or jointly named debts and refuse to provide money to the stbx for debts that are solely in his name? Even in doing this 75%-80% of my income would go towards debts that are in both of our names. With the majority of my income going to these debts I cannot provide for myself and have had to resort to living with family while the stbx just lives free and clear without making any financial contribution whatsoever and refuses to seek employment in order to do so.
Any advice or options that I may have would be greatly appreciated.