(Sam from Maine) I just found out that I owe thousands of dollars on credit cards that I shared with my wife. She ran up the balances after our divorce. Am I responsible for paying my ex-wife’s credit card debt?
Dear Sam,
From a creditor’s perspective, you are both equally responsible for repaying the debt regardless of who actually made the charges. Since your ex-wife still had access to a jointly held credit card account, then you are deemed to have consented to her use of that card.
A high number of divorcing couples often fail to separate their finances from each other in a timely manner. Sometimes the damage is incidental or unexpected. Other times it is a deliberate attempt to cause harm as an act of malice.
From a fairness point of view, your ex-wife should probably own up to the debt and repay it immediately. However, that may not be possible depending on her financial situation. Moreover, a woman scorned might be loathe to do anything that would make your life easier.
Regardless of the circumstances surrounding your divorce, you will want to control the damage so that it does not continue to haunt you for years to come. The most important aspect of this is to make sure that none of the monthly payments have been missed. If they have, then you need to work doubly-fast to restore the accounts to current on-time payment status. Since 35% of your credit rating is based on your payment history, you could pay the price for her missed payments for 7 years.
Additionally, any monthly payments that show up on your credit report will reduce your borrowing limits. For example, if you are trying to buy a new home and you qualify for a monthly payment as high as $1700 based on your income, you may only be able to be approved for a $900 monthly payment if your monthly debt obligations are $800.
Whether or not you pursue repayment from your ex-wife is up to you. It certainly depends on what terms you are on with your ex-wife. It also depends on how much surplus income she has, since you cannot squeeze blood from a turnip.
Ultimately you are responsible for any and all charges that were placed on the account by either applicant as well as any authorized users. She shares responsibility as well, which she may discover the next time she pulls her own credit.
Moving on from a divorce means paying off the marital debt and separating your credit accounts. You will need to contact your credit card issuers to remove her name and access from your accounts. You may also wish to consider filing a fraud alert with the three main credit bureaus. If she has your social security number and she intends to do you harm, she could easily open additional credit accounts in your name and rack up some large debt balances.
