Recovering Money From an Ex Who Verbally Promised to Help Pay Debt Solely in Your Name

Attorney Answer

The debt and the store account are legally yours alone, so you can't force your ex to keep paying — but the text messages where he promised to help may support a separate claim to recover money from him.

Because the store card and the underlying credit are in your name and social, you are the one legally obligated to the creditor, and Georgia does not make an ex-partner responsible for that debt just because he benefited from the purchases.

Being the cardholder who financed the purchases does not, however, make you the owner of the goods. Under O.C.G.A. § 11-2-401(2), "unless otherwise explicitly agreed title passes to the buyer at the time and place at which the seller completes his or her performance with reference to the physical delivery of the goods, despite any reservation of a security interest." You've said the store account was in his name and that he made the purchases, so on those facts he is very likely the buyer and the owner of the tools, tool box, desk, and PC. Your position is that you are the creditor's obligor — you owe the card balance — not that you own what the card paid for. So do not sell or dispose of those items on the assumption they're yours. O.C.G.A. § 51-10-1 provides that "the owner of personalty is entitled to its possession," and any deprivation of that possession is a tort, which means selling his property could expose you to a conversion claim for its value. If some of the items were bought by you rather than by him, those stand differently; have an attorney sort out which are whose before you do anything with them.

The texts where he said he'd keep helping are different: they can support a claim that he broke an informal promise to contribute, framed generally as breach of an oral promise or unjust enrichment, since he benefited from items bought in your name. Georgia recognizes these claims, though exactly how much proof an unwritten promise like this needs is fact-specific.

What you can do:

1. Preserve the text messages, receipts, and account statements now — and leave the tools, tool box, desk, and PC where they are rather than selling them.

2. Total what he actually used or benefited from.

3. Send a written demand for his share before filing anything.

4. Consider magistrate (small claims) court for his share if he refuses.

⏱ Time limits apply. Georgia generally allows four years to sue on an unwritten promise, but a local attorney should review your specific facts promptly to confirm how that deadline applies to you.