What happens to credit card debt if you go through divorce?

During your marriage, you will accumulate assets with your partner. At the same time, you may also accumulate debt. For some couples, there is more debt than assets.

If you decide to move forward with divorce, it won’t be long before you consider the property division process. While your assets are split among both parties, the same holds true for your debt.

Credit card debt is extremely common, and this will come into play if you go through with a divorce.

Generally speaking, there is one way to determine how credit card debt will be treated during divorce: was it a single or joint account?

If the credit card debt is associated with a joint account, both parties are typically responsible for paying it off. Conversely, if your spouse had a separate account, for example, you may not have any responsibility for paying on it in the future.

The difficult part about all of this is that you may not see divorce coming. For this reason, you go about your life, as always, thinking that you and your spouse will be able to deal with any financial situation that arises.

Most people going through divorce pay attention to the assets they will receive, such as the home, cars, and money in bank accounts. They often forget that they are also responsible for debt, such as that associated with a credit card.

In divorce, matters of credit card debt can arise. It is important that you know how to deal with this, as it will allow you to end up in the best possible situation.

Source: Credit.com, “What Happens to My Debt If I Get a Divorce?,” accessed April 11, 2016