What to Do About Your Joint Credit Cards During Divorce

 Posted on June 21, 2019 in Divorce

It can be difficult, in today’s world, to imagine living our day to day lives without having at least one credit card. While credit cards can be a good way to improve credit and allow for more flexible spending, they can also pose specific difficulties during divorce. This is especially true for couples who are involved in high asset divorces, which often involve various joint credit cards and accounts, so if you and your spouse have decided to file for divorce and both of your names are on multiple bank accounts or credit cards, it is important to speak with an experienced high asset divorce lawyer who can ensure that you are not saddled with more than your fair share of debt.

The Downside of Owning Joint Credit Cards

Although there are a number of benefits to owning a joint credit card with a spouse, there are also a few downsides, which usually reveal themselves during divorce. For instance, it is not unheard of for one spouse to end up on the hook for charges that he or she did not authorize. While this may be troublesome during a marriage, it can wreak havoc on a person’s post-divorce finances, as the last thing newly divorced couples need is to be saddled with more debt.

Separating one’s credit cards from those of their spouse in the first stages of divorce is one of the best ways to avoid these types of problems. In some cases, this will require canceling the cards, although if the parties have an amicable relationship this may not be necessary. Instead, one party can just have his or her name removed from the account and the other party can request a change of account number.

Accounting for All of Your Assets

High asset divorces typically involve significant, unique, varied, and valuable assets, so it is not uncommon for divorcing parties to forget about a card. To prevent this, divorcing couples should consider hiring a forensic accountant who can track down all of their assets and debts. Even if you are sure that you have canceled all of your joint credit cards, it’s still important to make a list of all existing debts for the court records. When the court is aware of the existence of the amounts owed on each jointly owned card, it can take steps to ensure that one spouse does not go on a spending spree using the joint card and that the only debt that the parties will have to share equally is that incurred after their marriage, but prior to divorce.

Contact Our Georgetown Legal Team Today

Please contact the skilled Georgetown high asset divorce lawyers at Powers and Kerr, PLLC to learn more about dividing your own marital assets and debts upon divorce. You can reach us at 512-610-6199 or by completing one of our brief online contact forms.

Sources:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jefflanders/2014/09/04/why-a-forensic-accountant-belongs-on-your-divorce-team/#42345543718a