Thread: "be responsible for"

With honesty the translation: "Его жена в ответе за то, что им придётся платить неустойку" is too advanced for my level. I didn't understand what the "в ответе за то, что" means. If I translate it is awful.

Originally Posted by Antonio1986

With honesty the translation: "Его жена в ответе за то, что им придётся платить неустойку" is too advanced for my level. I didn't understand what the "в ответе за то, что" means. If I translate it is awful.

Well, frankly the original sentence is quite ambigious. Is it that she's guilty of the fact that they need to pay the interest now? Or is it that she's the one who is suppossed to pay the interest, like if the interest is not paid she's the one to blame?