Dealing With Your Credit Before Divorce

Finances are one of the biggest sources of stress for people going through a divorce. It’s important to do everything you can to ensure you come out of the divorce with a stable financial future.

Part of this is taking the appropriate steps to protect your credit before you get the divorce. The last thing you want is to have your credit score plummet due to unpaid bills or debts you were unaware of.

Here are a few of the steps you should take to deal with your credit before divorce.

• Review your credit report: Take a look at your credit report and analyze your current score. Check and see which accounts you currently have are linked to your credit score. If there are any joint accounts, make sure you monitor those until you both decide to close them so your spouse does not rack up debt for which you will be at least partially responsible.
• Separate accounts as soon as you can: If you and your spouse have joint credit accounts, make sure to separate those accounts as soon as possible and get access to a personal credit card instead. You and your spouse will both need to agree on closing it. However, after an action for divorce is commenced, you do not need to allow access to your spouse for charges on a credit account in your name. Thus, you should speak to your attorney about when you can/should close any joint credit card accounts.  After you’ve done so, check the credit report to make sure that account is no longer tied to your credit.
• Let creditors know about changes: Sometimes you need to be more proactive with informing creditors about changes in your credit and your marital status. If you still have a lot of credit debt, you may be able to work with the creditor to set up a payment plan. Get any agreement you make in writing.
• Freeze your credit in extreme circumstances: If you believe your spouse will become vindictive or if they’ve already started to rack up big bills, you should consider freezing your credit. This is free and easy to accomplish.

For more information about dealing with credit before divorce, contact an experienced divorce attorney at Jakubowski, Robertson, Maffei, Goldsmith & Tartaglia LLP.