The divorce is final. The decree is signed. You have started the slow and unglamorous work of rebuilding your life. And then your phone rings.
It is a debt collector. Sometimes the debt truly belongs only to your ex-spouse. Other times it is a joint account that the divorce decree assigned to your ex, even though the original contract may still leave you liable to the creditor. Those two situations are legally different, but both can create FDCPA issues when a collector says too much, contacts the wrong person, or misstates your rights.
This is not just annoying. It may be a federal violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), and it could put money in your pocket without costing you a dime.
In This Guide
The Law That Protects You
The FDCPA, codified at 15 U.S.C. § 1692 et seq., restricts how debt collectors can communicate about a consumer's debt. One of its most powerful protections is the third-party disclosure rule found in 15 U.S.C. § 1692c(b). Under this section, a debt collector may not communicate with any person other than the consumer, the consumer's attorney, a consumer reporting agency (if otherwise permitted by law), the creditor, the creditor's attorney, or the debt collector's attorney in connection with the collection of any debt. For a broader overview of these rules, read our FDCPA Guide: Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (2026).
There is a nuance here that matters enormously in the divorce context. Section 1692c(d) defines "consumer" to include the consumer's spouse. That means while you are married, a debt collector can generally communicate with your spouse about your debt without triggering a third-party disclosure violation. But once the divorce is final, your ex-spouse is no longer your "spouse" under the statute. The protection evaporates.
So if a debt collector calls your ex-spouse after your divorce is finalized and discloses information about your debt -- or calls you about a debt that belongs only to your ex -- that communication may violate § 1692c(b). If the debt is still jointly owed, the collector may be allowed to contact you about your own contractual liability, but it still cannot lie about the debt or disclose it to unauthorized third parties.
For another example of how third-party disclosure problems work in practice, see The "Notification Trap": Why Texting Debtors Violates Privacy Laws.
How This Plays Out in Real Life
The scenarios are painfully common. A debt collector calls your home number, which is now just your number, and leaves a voicemail referencing a debt that belongs to your ex. A collector calls your new partner or your parents trying to reach your ex about a debt, disclosing the existence and nature of the debt in the process. A collector sends mail to your address -- where your ex no longer lives -- with the debt details visible through the envelope window or stated in the letter itself.
Any of these scenarios can support an FDCPA claim. In an individual action, 15 U.S.C. § 1692k allows actual damages, up to $1,000 in additional statutory damages, and attorney's fees and costs.
The Divorce Decree Does Not Protect You from Collectors
This is something many people do not understand, and it causes enormous frustration. Your divorce decree may say that your ex is responsible for the Capital One card, the car loan, and the medical bills from 2021. That decree is a court order binding on you and your ex. But it is not binding on the creditor or the debt collector. They were not a party to your divorce.
The creditor extended credit to you, or to both of you jointly, based on a contract. The divorce court cannot rewrite that contract. So if your ex fails to pay a joint debt that the decree assigned to them, the creditor and its collectors can still come after you. The decree gives you a right to go back to family court and seek enforcement against your ex, but it does not stop the collection calls.
What the decree does do is provide important context. If the debt truly belongs only to your ex, post-divorce disclosures to you can raise third-party communication issues. If the debt remains joint, the decree does not erase your contractual liability to the creditor, but a collector can still violate the FDCPA by disclosing the debt to unauthorized third parties, misstating who is legally responsible, or falsely describing what the decree changed.
Illinois Is Not a Community Property State
If you are reading this from Illinois, here is something worth knowing. Illinois is an equitable distribution state under 750 ILCS 5/503(d). That means marital property and debts are divided based on what the court considers fair -- not automatically split 50/50. This distinction matters because property-allocation rules differ by state. In Illinois, the decree allocates responsibility between the spouses, but it does not by itself erase a creditor's contract rights. What it can do is provide evidence when a collector overstates who owes what or communicates about the debt to the wrong person.
This does not mean the decree binds the collector. But it does mean that the collector's characterization of the debt -- who owes it, how much, and under what terms -- needs to be accurate. Misrepresenting the legal status of a debt is a violation of 15 U.S.C. § 1692e.
What You Should Do Right Now
If you are receiving collection calls or letters about a debt that your divorce decree assigned to your ex, do not ignore them. Do not argue with the collector. And do not assume this is just the cost of having been married.
Instead, document everything. Save every voicemail. Screenshot every text message. Keep every letter in its original envelope. Write down the date, time, and content of every phone call. If the collector sent a written notice or demand, consider sending a debt validation letter under FDCPA § 1692g so they have to verify what they are claiming. And then contact an FDCPA attorney.
What It Costs You
Nothing. The FDCPA is a fee-shifting statute. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1692k(a)(3), when a debt collector violates the law, they are required to pay the consumer's attorney's fees and costs. You will never receive a bill from our office. The collector pays our fees -- not you. This is not charity. It is the way Congress designed the law to work, precisely because consumers in this situation are rarely in a position to write a check to a lawyer.
If you are divorced and a debt collector is contacting you about your ex's debt -- or disclosing your debt information to your ex or anyone else -- you may have a claim. Contact Hyslip Legal for a free, confidential evaluation at Hyslip Legal contact page.
Further Reading
This information is for educational purposes only and does not create an attorney-client relationship with Hyslip Legal, LLC. Legal outcomes depend on the facts of each case.