Family Law

Here is the sixth post in a series about preparing for divorce. Divorce attorney Michael Sherman of the Alabama Family Law Blog has tips on divorce. I've added my comments in italics.

We are now on to the sixth step in our series on preparing for divorce. The sixth step is: Make sure you have your own credit established.

If you do not have your own credit history, you should begin the process of establishing it now. Obtain a gas card and a credit card. You will need to have your own credit established after the divorce. And, the sooner you begin the process the better. So, don't wait until after the divorce. You can start this immediately. You want to get a credit card, make small purchases often, pay bills on time, and pay off the balance every month.

Once you've obtained the accounts, you can improve your credit by using the cards and then paying them off each month. At this point, it is important that you use these cards only to the degree that you can pay them off each month. Your goal is to establish a favorable credit history, not to run up a bunch of debt. You want to make sure that all payments for the mortgage, rent, utilities, loans, and credit cards are made on time. Any accounts that are delinquent will affect your credit. Call all accounts and request to be notified of any missed payments. You do need to be careful about freezing or close joint credit accounts since that may violate the automatic injunction in the divorce case. You may want to see if you and your soon to be ex can agree to ask the creditor to convert them to individual accounts in the name of the person who will ultimately be responsible for the debt.