My husband's father ruined my husband's credit, crashed a small business under my husband's name, help!!!!

My husband is very young 24 years old. When he was in high school and became of age to have credit, his dad took advantage of him and had my husband borrow loans for him. My husband was very young and naive and he didn't really know anything about credit. Well his father never payed back the debts and left my husband with bad credit. Then about the time my husband was 19, his father convinced him to open a small construction business with employees. Well, everything ended up under my husband's name soley and there were never any attempts to contact an accountant to handle the tax situation. In addition to construction, my husband's father had my husband buy and sell real estate under my husband's name. This went on for about 2 years and my husband being young and naive trusted his dad was doing the right thing and he thought his dad was taking care of everything, because my husband didn't really know anything about a business or taxes. More....

The whole time, my husband was only receiving an hourly income and the only person who was really benifitting from any profit was his father. The business was never closed and no taxes were ever filed. My husband hasn't filed taxes since he was nineteen and he doesn't even know where to start because of the situation his father put him in. My husband and I can't afford an accountant so we don't know what to do. His father is no help either. We are just stuck and we just want to make things right. We just don't know where to go or where to start. Also, I'm sure there are plenty of receipts and paperwork missing so I don't even know what we would give to an accountant. We are just so scared that my husband owes a large amount of money in taxes and it's all his father's fault. Of course on paper it doesn't look that way. Help!!

Your husband has only one recourse and it's going to be difficult.

Retain an attorney with out his dad's knowledge and turn it all over to him. Your husband must be prepared for the potential outcome that his dad could be held criminally libel and that he might have to take his dad to court in a civil lawsuit. If he's not willing to make this commitment, then he going to have a very difficult life ahead.

Good luck.

Harsh lesson for a young man to learn about his Father and about business in general.

Call the IRS. Explain the situation in detail. They want their money and your husband want out from under this. They will make a deal with him, then sue the crap out of his father and cut all ties with him.

Whether it puts you in debt or not hire a lwyer and an accountant and get your **** straight. Better to go into debt than have the IRS seizing your only assets. i.e. your house, your car and anything else they can get their hands on.

Have nothing further to do with your father-in-law. He's bad news. There are inexpensive accounting firms like H&R Block. You could make an appointment and get professional advice, which is what you'll need to fix this mess.

Well, I sure like the answers that involve the IRS and a tax attorney. Definitely, look into those!

talk to the tax department and ask them how you go about straightening it all out. I hope your husband has learned NOT to trust his dad........ I would try and talk to the dad and record it asking him why he did this and how is he going to help fix it!

Damn....

The only thing he can do at this point is take his father to court. If there were employees being paid, and no taxes going to the government, then someone is going to have to pay those taxes and possibly face jail time. If your father in law did all this stuff, he obviously doesn't care if his son gets into trouble for something he didn't do. I would take his @ss to court.

If you don't, your and your husband's life is going to be a wreck. You'll never be able to get a loan for a house or a car. You can't just not pay taxes. The government doesn't like that and they will fully prosecute anyone who doesn't pay them.

At this point, either your husband or his father is going to be in a boat load of trouble. I'd have your husband put the blame on your father in law.

There are legal actions you can pursue. It's expensive, and will take years. If it were me, I'd simply shoot the son of a ******!

Try to live through it the best you can for now. Don't worry, you'll think of something. =]