So my hubby is in business with his dad?

He worked part time for his dad up til the first of this year. his dad told him he would pay him 50 % of the profits my hubby brings in. my hubby told him to keep 25 % of it and put it towards business bills. thinking taht he was contributing the expenses. he also paid for his own van insurance gas and tags. The first of this year he takes over and we get a call from a law firm saying that his dad owes almost 8 thousand dollars for an advertisement he put in the phone book. His dad now expects us to pay it out of the money coming in. am i wrong to think that his dad needs to take care of this bill. Oh and we rarely are able to make payroll on time we are usually 1-2 weeks behind.

I am going to make some assumptions:
Your father-in-law keeps/kept 50% of the profits he makes, and 50% goes towards company overhead.
Your husband keeps 25% the profits he makes, your father-in-law keeps 25% of the profits your husband makes, and 50% goes towards company overhead, or 75% goes toward overhead.
Either case a percentage of all profits goes towards the company overhead. In most cases auto expenses, advertisement, and payroll come out of company overhead.
If your company is unable to cover overhead then you either have to 1) decrease the amount of expenses coming out of overhead and/or 2) increase income into the overhead.
A recommendation would be to look at company costs then decrease the amount of the profits that the owners are keeping (husband & father), thus increasing the amount that goes into overhead. Set a reserve in the overhead account (one month of expenses) and after that is meet and maintained then pay bonus to the owners.
Bottom line, If your husband is now in control of the company, the company will reap the benifits of the advertising. If it is old advertising, it is still an overhead of the company and your husband assumed responsiablity of the company. Your husband should also have the right to make sure that the business stays aloat and make difficult decissions that influence not only the father's pay but yours as well.
The ad agency will work out a payment schedule with the company or you can try to settle for dimes on the dollar.

Apart from doing your daddy's part time job, do your parttime jobs.

I would think that his dad would be responsible for the ad, being that he was in charge of the business back when he placed the ad. Of course, if your hubby was made a partner in the business, he could be responsible for half of this bill. You might want to check with your local laws regarding responsibilities of bills. If you're having payroll problems, you might have to consult with an accredited accountant, to help spot the problems and bring your accounts up to date. <*)))><

I would say the company is responsible for paying the bill; if the company does not have the funds, then it will be your husband and his father's responsibility. Sounds to me like your husband needs to go in business for himself, or at the least quit working with his Dad. Consult an attorney of your own to make sure what you should do, this is just my thought.