Husband has hidden debts from wife

My mother feels stuck with her husband. He is currently on sick as he is awaiting an operation on his knee, however he could go to work and chooses not to. If he went back the debt that has been accrued could be covered. However much of the debt which has been accrued has been hidden from my mother. Joint named letters have come to the house asking for debts to be paid. My mother is not seeing these letters and quite often when she does the situation is worse because of his actions. Obviously this debt as it is in joint names, what happens if they get divorced if the husband is slyly hiding this information from my mother. Also some debts she is having to pay for which are under his name, but which obviously put the house at risk. She can''t talk to these debters about what he owes as its in his name, but its her home thats at risk. Its complicated, but she needs out of it somehow. She works, but has had hours cut and they have three dogs. The dogs are the only thing holding her back as if she divorced, lost the house she could not afford to buy another house and would have to rent. She could not keep three dogs at a private rented property and he doesn;t look after them. Can anyone help advise here?

I suppose the first thing I would suggest is for your mother to consider the joint debts, and what scope there is for the husband to be running up further credit for which she could be responsible.
Joint bank accounts and joint credit cards are the usual suspects, and if this is so, then consideration needs to be given to closing them altogether, or at least closing them to future purchases.
Debts which threaten the house are, in the main, likely to be those which are secured on it. The first and obvious question is whether the house is in joint names. Do you know ?
This is, as you know, primarily a divorce website, and you have not mentioned the word divorce. Please understand, we are not trying to rush or browbeat anyone into a divorce if they are not ready for it.
But when dealing with debts and how to manage them, one of the guiding principles is to get all debts on the table. My experience in debt advice suggests that many debtors do not do this, or pay unimportant debts, while neglecting more critical ones - those that imperil the house - and there is nothing I used to dislike more than to draw up a debt management plan, only have to find out later that there were more than the '' client '' was prepared to let on.
So, do you think your mother and her husband have what is takes to bring the problem out into the open ?
LMM

My mother wants to get divorced, but because of what he has done, she feels that it would leave her in an impossible situation. i.e, she would have to pay half the debts (£42000 and yes, she would disclose what they are - one was for his car I know) to which she believes is not really her doing. The car loan, he had promised to pay, and hasn''t been. I think she already had managed it so that he can''t run up more. The mortgage he has been asking for breaks on the payments, 3 months later my mother found out after a letter was sent stating pay £1200 or someone would be sent round for repossesion. Who would be libel for these kinds of debts. Even though they are in joint names (Some not all). If she was divorced. Considering the way he has done this, where would my mam stand.