READIN’, WRITIN’, and REIMBURSEMENT — STUDENT LOAN OBLIGATIONS
INCURRED PRIOR TO MARRIAGE DETERMINED TO BE SEPARATE PROPERTY OBLIGATIONS
A recent Louisiana appellate court decision ruled that a medical professional’s student loan debt that was incurred prior to marriage for medical school was his separate property obligation, and not a community debt equally allocable to his wife. The ruling may well be argued to impact similar fact patterns in Las Vegas divorce proceedings.
In Gisleson v. Deputy, the Louisiana Court of Appeal, Fourth Circuit, determined that a divorcing wife was entitled to reimbursement for one-half the amount of community funds expended during marriage in servicing the pre-marital debt incurred for her husband’s medical education, without regard for the fact that the husband’s medical training substantially benefited the parties’ marriage by increasing the parties’ standard of living. The court found that in and of itself, the beneficial impact of the husband’s medical education on the parties’ marriage did not convert husband’s separate, pre-marital debt into a community obligation.
Nevada divorce actions almost always concern the equitable allocation of marital debt, provided it is deemed to be community debt under Nevada law. As the public discourse continues to question the utility and value of increasingly expensive college educations, Las Vegas divorce lawyers will almost certainly be forced to assert and defend such claims in Nevada courts.
The Las Vegas family law attorneys at Pecos Law Group have more than 100 years of combined experience if Las Vegas family law issues.