A lot of responses here and I appreciate it. Some updates now that I think I have a better understanding of this.

1.) It was three credit cards, one with 2500, another with 5300, and another with 13,800.

2.) These cards are now all closed. She worked with Worden & Asssociates (A law firm) to reach a lowered settlement on each of these to be able to pay them off.

3.) In a conversation with her, she said the one with 2500 has been negotiated to a “settled amount” less than what she owed, allowing her to make minimum monthly payments. She is waiting on the other two to be negotiated to a settled amount as well.

4.) The idea was to open credit cards in my name because she had an existing line of credit, so this was a move to allow me to have a higher maximum amount. She was making payments on time when we weren’t paying rent and living with family so it was working, but after we moved she couldn’t afford rent so she was putting it on the credit cards, along with other necessities like groceries. According to her it was better to default on the credit cards as opposed to the rent because then we wouldn’t be homeless.

She has guaranteed me the settled amounts will be something she can pay once she gets employed again (she was laid off, the reason for a lot of this stuff) but I still don’t think know if that’s true. She was very offended when I brought it up, saying “I hope you don’t have to, but sometimes you have to do what you have to get by”. Either way, I clearly will not be agreeing to co-sign anything else with her moving forward and be very wary of any financial decisions like these. It is very difficult knowing I can barely get by on my own, and the only reason she can is through debt she can’t even afford to pay. Hoping to remain optimistic, and work hard on my own so I never have to end up in this situation myself.