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After you separate, both of you are responsible for any financial obligations that either of you took on during your relationship, unless you agree otherwise. This is called family debt, and it includes:

• mortgages,
• loans from family members,
• bank lines of credit or overdrafts,
• credit cards,
• income tax, and
• repair costs.

Family debt also includes financial obligations taken on after separation if the money was spent to take care of family property.

When dividing family debt, it doesn't matter whose name the debt is in. This applies whether you are married or you lived in a marriage-like relationship for at least two years. But it's important to know whose name the debt is in for anyone who wants to collect on the debt. The person or institution either of you owes money to can only collect against the person who took on the debt.

A court will divide debt unequally if it would be significantly unfair to divide it equally. See Dividing property and debts after you separate for more information.

If one of you challenges your earlier agreement, the judge or master will look carefully at how you reached that agreement. (For example, was all information shared? Did one of you take advantage of the other?) The judge will also look at whether the agreement is "significantly unfair." See Making an agreement after you separate for more information.

Not all types of financial obligations are covered in this section. Other options are available in the CLEBC manual.

Your basic information

Type in the same short names for you, the other person, and your children that you used in the introductory clauses. They'll then appear below in place of Party 1, Party 2, or Name.

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The first thing you need to do is describe each type of debt and give it a name. You will refer to that debt by its name throughout the rest of this section. Start by first naming all of your joint debts. Then each of you will list all of your individual debts.

Joint debts — Instructions

Joint debts are things like money owing on joint credit cards and joint lines of credit. They also include debts to businesses (like banks or a car dealership) or individuals (parents, friends) where you both signed to take on the debt.

Use as many clauses as you need to set out each type of debt. Describe the debt in detail using the fields provided. Include:

• the type of debt (credit card, line of credit, personal loan, etc.)
• who it is owed to (which bank or financial institution, or person)
• how much is owed on the debt as of a specific date

For example, "Taylor and Blair have a joint BankCo ChargeCard with a balance of $2,000 owing as of June 30, 2014." Or "Deepa and Sunil have a personal loan from Jane Doe. As of June 30, 2014, $500 is owed."

Include all the clauses that apply.

• For clauses 1 – 6, type in the debt details (as above).

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Individual debts are those where only one person has taken on the debt. For example, you might each have credit cards in your own names, or individual lines of credit. One of you might have taken out a car loan.

Even debts that you've taken on individually during the relationship are divided equally, unless that would be significantly unfair or you've agreed to divide unequally.

Use as many clauses as you need to set out each type of debt. Describe the debt in detail using the fields provided. Include:

• the type of debt (credit card, line of credit, personal loan, etc.)
• who it is owed to (which bank or financial institution, or person)
• how much is owed on the debt as of a specific date

For example, "Taylor has a CreditCo line of credit with a balance of $5,500 owing as of June 30, 2014." Or "Rashi has a BC student loan. As of June 30, 2014, $10,000 is owed."

Include all the clauses that apply.

• For clauses 7 – 12, type in the debt details (as above).

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You can set out who is responsible for paying which debts. You can divide the debts between the two of you, or you can specify that each of you is responsible for specific debts, or you can do a combination of both. For example, you could specify that each of you is responsible for all the debts in their own name.

Include all the clauses that apply.

• Include clause 13 if you want to share responsibility for joint debts equally and each pay your own individual debts.
• Include clauses 14 – 23 (as applicable) if you want to specify which debts each of you is responsible for.
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  • For clause 14, click the name of the person who will be responsible for paying some or all of the debts. The field updates with the person's name.
  • For clauses 15 – 18, type in the debt details and the amount.
  • For clause 19, click the name of the person who will be responsible for paying other debts. The field updates with the person's name.
  • For clauses 20 – 23, type in the debt details and the amount.
• Include clauses 29 – 33 (as applicable) if you want to specify that each of you will pay a specific portion of the amount on some or all the debts listed.
  • type="a">
  • Type in the debt details and the amount.
  • Click your names so that the field updates with your names as you want them to.
  • Type in the percentage of the debt or the amount each of you will pay.

• Include clauses 34 – 38 (as applicable) if you want to specify that neither of you can increase the amount borrowed on some or all of your debts.
  • type="a">
  • For clauses 35 – 38, type in the debt name that you've used in the earlier clauses and the amount.

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Include all the clauses that apply.

• For clause 37, click the name of the person. The field updates with their name. Type in the tax details and the amount in clauses 38 and 39.
• For clause 42, click the other person's name. The field updates with their name. Type in the tax details and the amount in clauses 43 and 44.

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If you have any joint accounts, it's a good idea to specify that they'll be closed once the agreement is signed.

Include all the clauses that apply.

• For clauses 45 – 48, type in the joint accounts and the associated bank or financial institution.