Husband Making $117K Tries To Walk Away From 6 Kids After $60K Debt — ‘Ramsey Show’ Host Calls Him ‘Dead Man Walking’

Six kids. Nearly 20 years of marriage. And a husband who says he’s done.

Christy, who has spent the past 14 years raising six children in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, told “The Ramsey Show” that her husband wants to file for divorce this summer. She is now trying to understand how to protect herself and their children.

She works part time as a preschool teacher so she can bring her 4-year-old son to class. Her husband earned about $117,000 on their most recent tax return, and most assets and accounts are tied to his income. 

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“Everything’s up on end,” Christy said, as hosts Dave Ramsey and John Delony spoke with her about her six children, ages 4 to 18, with the oldest having just started college.

Debt Returns After Financial Peace Years

The strain, she said, followed debt they once believed was behind them.

After their third child was born in 2010, the couple taught a Ramsey financial course. They later welcomed three more children. “Things were going really well,” Christy said.

While refinancing their home in 2020, her husband admitted he accumulated credit card balances. They rolled additional funds into the mortgage to pay off the credit card balances and he promised they would be canceled.

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Earlier this year, she discovered nearly $60,000 in new credit card debt. With minimum payments climbing into the hundreds and even thousands each month, they took out a second mortgage to eliminate the balances.

“And then he kind of — things went downhill really quickly after that,” Christy said. “It’s been a very difficult year.”

Soon after, she said, he stopped sleeping in their bedroom, stopped talking to her and said he intends to file for divorce. She also learned he stopped paying her life insurance premium.

“Like, cuz here you’re dead men walking,” Delony said, after confirming that her husband is still living in the home while announcing plans to leave.

Income, Assets And What Courts Consider

Ramsey asked what her husband earns. She confirmed it was a six-figure income. Christy asked what would happen if he pushed for a 50/50 split.

“50/50 is assets, but I’m not talking about his income,” Ramsey said.

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He said that in most states, child support and alimony are calculated separately from asset division and can take a significant portion of income in a 20-year marriage with six children.

Christy said she scheduled a meeting with an attorney to understand her legal rights.

Delony urged her to ask her attorney whether it matters who files for divorce, saying he has heard of cases where one spouse wants out but hesitates filing.

Ramsey said that in most states, filing first does not affect child support or alimony. “It won’t matter,” he said.

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