Vision Credit Education, Inc.

Too often, judges split assets and marital debt without any consideration to the power one spouse has over another. This goes beyond the payment of alimony or child support.

Most divorce court judges ignore who is legally responsible for paying a debt. The results can be disastrous to both parties.

First of all, divorce court judges fail to acknowledge that existing credit contracts supersede divorce decrees. A spouse may be shielded from legal action (judgment) by a creditor if they can show that their Ex is responsible for the payment. However, this does nothing to protect their credit from damage.

Divorces can get ugly. Sometimes one spouse will intentionally cause problems for the other as retribution for previous acts. One of the most common forms of this retribution is to stop paying on a debt that they are responsible, but that they know is in the other spouse’s name.

The impact of this can be devastating to all parties involved. Some divorces result in the awarding of certain marital assets to one spouse in which there are still payments due. The spouse receiving those assets may fail to continue making payments on them as a condition of the court.

This failure by the court to recognize the importance of credit records can cause severe hardship for affected parties for many years down the road. A divorce can ruin a credit record, causing a spouse to miss out on new home ownership opportunities, inflate their car payment and even deny them a job.

If you are facing divorce, understand that your creditors will hold you responsible for your debts regardless of what the judge decides. It is usually in your best interests to control the assets for which you still owe money.