How Does Divorce Affect a Person’s Credit?
Before your divorce, when you and your spouse first obtained credit together, you both sign a contact agreeing to pay your bills. A divorce agreement does not cancel that contract. When you divorce you are both fully liable for your debts. There are several ways to prevent credit obligations from making your divorce more difficult and to re-establish your own credit once you are no longer legally together. You may consider the following:
• Communicate with both your ex-spouse and creditors. Try to make a clean financial cut as possible and try to figure which credit belongs to whom and then ask each company or bank to transfer the debt to who is responsible.
• Remove your spouse’s name as an authorized user or close your joint accounts to avoid additional unauthorized charges.
• During divorce negotiations, keep your joint bills current, even if you ultimately will have no responsibility for the debt. If you don’t, your creditors could become more reluctant to release one party from joint liability.
Upon your divorce settlement, you and your ex-spouse might consider obtaining individual consolidation loans to cover your share of the joint bills. Pay off the joint bills with your individual loans and close all joint accounts. This helps ensure you'll be responsible only for those bills you agreed to pay. It also will help you establish or re-establish credit in your own name.
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either online or call us at 631-289-4600 to schedule a FREE consultation with one of our matrimonial and divorce lawyers. We can review your individual situation and answer all of your questions.