Family Law

Save Your Credit After You Divorce

By Ben Stevens

Earlier this week, I published an article which explained ways to protect your finances before your divorce.  This post contains more excerpts from the article published Ask The Advisor which looks at the impact of divorce on credit, specifically with regard to your finances and your credit history.

When facing a divorce, it is easy for emotions to overwhelm you and prevent you from focusing on protecting your finances.  Some people do not adequately protect their financial interests during the divorce, but the following steps can help repair the damage done in these situations:

• Check Your Credit Score :: This is something you should do at least once a year, but it is especially important after major life events. By checking your credit score you can see if your credit has been adversely affected by your divorce. It will also show if there are any debts that you used to share with your spouse that are now being neglected. This will point you in the right direction when it comes time to cancel any joint accounts.
• Separate / Cancel All Joint Accounts :: Even if you ended your divorce on very bad terms, you simply must have a sit-down with your ex. Any and all accounts, debts and property that you still share should be separated, canceled or sold. In other words, you must separate your finances like you have separated your relationship. This can be most easily accomplished with your former spouse's help. If he/she won't help, it is time to call your lawyer. Either way, your financial ties must be severed.
• Notify Creditors of Your Divorce :: Once you have separated/canceled all of your joint accounts/debts, you are no longer legally bound to your former spouse's current debts. Call all of the creditors who have been bothering you and alert them to this fact. In a perfect world, they would apologize for the inconvenience and never call you again. However, it may take awhile before such calls cease entirely. In addition to notifying the proper collectors, you should right a letter to them as well. That will help them to expedite their file updates.

Full post as published by SC Family Law Blog on August 07, 2008 (boomark / email).