Debt and Divorce

Michael Sherman of the Alabama Family Law Blog has a great post about Debt and Divorce.

As Michael states:

A recurring issue in my divorce practice is how to address joint indebtedness. Often the parties will agree that one party or the other will pay and be solely responsible for a debt that is in the parties' joint names.

However, what most of my clients do not realize is that even if their spouse if agreeing in the divorce to pay the debt, they still have financial exposure. They often do not realize that the Divorce Decree's provisions about who is responsible for the debt does not and cannot alter the underlying debt. The credit card company, bank, or other creditor is not bound by your Divorce Decree.

He also came across an article that explains this issue well and I am also providing it for you at the link below.

Download the article Credit and Divorce

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Divorce, Divorce and Finances, Bankruptcy, Finances, Debt, Credit

Comments

[Traci Hamilton]

I saw this a lot as a personal banker--people didn't understand why their former spouse's late payments still showed on their credit reports and why we had to include those debts in their DTI.