Important Things to Know About Divorce and Credit

Joint debts stay joint debts.

Both partners signed a legally binding contract with the creditor, and a divorcement edict neither damages this contract nor relieves the creditor's investing in you. Amendment of any contract necessitates understanding by all parties, including the creditor, and cogent evidence of the amendment necessitates the signature of all parties. During a divorce, the creditors are not portion of the divorcement courts, and therefore the original agreements/contracts stand.

If you have got a joint financial duty with your ex-spouse, and your divorcement edict states that your ex-spouse is responsible, and your ex-spouse is delinquent on paying, your credit as well as his/hers is affected. As is stated above, your legal duty for a debt makes not travel away because a divorcement edict delegates duty for a debt to your ex-spouse. Along with a legal duty to pay come ups the right of the creditor to report a debt delinquent on your credit report if it's not paid as agreed in the original contract.

Especially tragical are states of affairs where one ex-spouse files bankruptcy and includes many joint debts in the bankruptcy. The partner not filing bankruptcy is left holding the bag for these joint debts, and many modern times they're not notified of the ex-spouse's filing until calendar months or old age down the route when it's too late to rectify the situation. So not only is the partner who didn't register responsible for the unpaid debts and can be legally sued for them, but the non-filing bankruptcy spouse's credit is also ruined, something that cannot be corrected, as the credit bureaus have got the right to report them delinquent.

The intent of divorcement is to divide off emotionally and financially from your ex-spouse. If you aren't careful, your spouse's handling of your once-joint accounts can stalk for years. If you had joint debts which existed before your divorce, and these accounts are not both paid off and closed, you're just asking for trouble. Also, although some divorcing couples are definitely out to get each other, most problems with joint accounts prior to divorcement are caused by ignorance, not malicious intent. Don't believe that just because your split is amicable that problems can't occur. Taking safeguards can protect BOTH of you. Order a credit report and reappraisal all outstanding debts.

You may tell a free credit report transcript at www.creditfederal.com/credit-report.html