Rice v. Rice

336 S.W.3d 66 (2011)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

H and W were married in 1966, and divorced on March 14, 2008. There were no minor children, but one adult child, Darrin. The trial court held that credit card debt in the amount of $65,000 was marital, and assigned half the debt to each party. The debt was incurred over a four-year period, primarily by Darrin, with the permission and some degree of knowledge of F. W did not know of the credit cards' existence, nor that Darrin was being allowed to use the cards. W was kept in the dark about this until bill collectors started calling her home in Greenup County, Kentucky, about debts he had incurred in Florida. H began helping Darrin after his home in Florida was damaged by a hurricane. H did not tell W about this help. W did not discover the enormity of the debt until she retired from her eight-dollar-an-hour job, and was home to take the debt collectors' calls and check into the paperwork. W filed for divorce. The trial court determined that the debt was marital, and divided it equally between the parties. The Court of Appeals affirmed. This appeal resulted.