Personal Credit: How To Protect Yourself Pre-Divorce

Divorce can be an emotional roller coaster, one you never wanted to ride and one you can’t wait to get off. While you’re holding on tight and waiting for this shaky ride to end, it’s easy to forget about basic money management and how important it will soon become, particularly when it comes to your personal credit. If you don’t protect yourself, you risk the negative consequences associated with your former spouse’s debt.

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Here are 4 tactics to help you protect yourself from that risk and winding up tied into your former spouse’s debt:

1. Close it. Get rid of entangled credit and cards.

2. Freeze it. Put your credit on ice.

3. Separate it. Create a line of credit just for you.

4. Monitor it. Check regularly to stay on top of it.

1. Close It

As you begin to work toward de-tangling the financial web that you and your spouse have woven over the years, a good first step towards independence is to close any joint lines of credit, joint credit cards, and even joint checking accounts.

This is important because you don’t want to be on the hook for any new debt that your soon-to-be ex may incur during your separation, and you will need a strong credit score as you transition into your new single life with a new apartment, home loan, etc.

“In your marriage, spending could be happening without you even knowing about it,” says Kate Anthony, Divorce Guru, Instagram Sensation and the woman behind the wildly popular Divorce Survival Guide Podcast. “I have seen people have their credit ruined prior to the divorce by their spouse’s choices, completely behind their back. You can’t forget that you and your soon-to-be-ex are still tied together financially during this process, and doing everything you can now to separate yourself will help protect you in the next stage of life.”

The best course of action here is to decouple any lines of credit (like credit card accounts!) during the separation process, to protect the credit of both parties. If things are still amicable, communicate with your ex about how you might pay off the cards together and close the account as soon as possible. You may also consider transferring the debt on any joint cards to new individual credit cards in each spouse’s separate name and closing the original account. If you and your soon-to-be ex are not on amicable terms, you should stop using any joint credit accounts yourself and let your attorney know that the debts incurred on the joint line from that point forward belong to your ex, and try to work that into the final divorce settlement.

Remember that no divorce decree trumps the contract you have with the issuer - this means that even if your divorce settlement states that your spouse must pay the debt on a joint credit card, your credit is still at risk if they choose not to pay.

2. Freeze It

Even if it seems unlikely, your spouse might be able to open new lines of joint credit without your authorization.

These days you can put your credit on ice, meaning you can lock it up with each of the three credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax EFX , and Transunion) so that no one, (including you), can create a new debt channel until you call the credit bureau and “un-freeze” it yourself with your own secure password. With all the fraud out there these days, this is probably advisable whether or not you are going through a divorce!

A bank is likely to require a credit check to simply open a bank account, so even a new checking account cannot be opened in your name while your credit is frozen - though creditors and lenders with whom you already have accounts may have less stringent requirements to open a new account, so check in directly with them to be certain your credit is protected.

Placing this freeze does not affect your credit score, and while there is usually a small fee to put the freeze in place, it costs nothing to unlock it once you are ready.

3. Separate It

Even if you have been married for a long time, the credit bureaus maintain separate files and credit ratings on you and your spouse. That is why creating separate lines of credit now is vital.

At this time, you do not want to incur any further joint debt, and, as noted in point 1, no divorce decree will negate your original contract with the lender. If your ex continues to tap that credit line, it could potentially leave you on the hook for more debt than you realized.

It is also very important to make sure that your spending is separate from that of your soon-to-be ex. When you are ready to have your attorneys and possibly forensic accountants review both parties’ individual spending during a divorce negotiation, the ability to clearly define “who spent what and why” can be very powerful when ultimately separating assets and establishing MSOL (Marital Standard of Living) which is the basis for alimony and child support discussions.

Finding out that your ex-spouse has gone on an extravagant spending spree with joint assets is no fun, so take this opportunity to remove that possibility from your financial equation.

Beyond access to credit, Kate also reiterates the importance of always having access to your own money. “We can’t talk about separating your credit without talking about separate assets. It is always important to have your own bank account – an account that only has your name on it, and no one else’s. If somehow you get separated from the joint checking account while you and your ex are navigating this divorce, you’ll still have access to funds while you work through the details of your divorce.” Taking money from the community and placing it into an account with your own name does not mean that you are “hiding” money or doing anything sneaky, “you are protecting your ability to provide for you and your children. It must be disclosed during the divorce proceeding, and you will disclose it – it’s only considered to be ‘hiding assets’ if you don’t disclose it,” says Kate.

4. Monitor It:

Bad credit can cost you money in ways you never imagined – including unfavorable interest rates when you take out a mortgage, car loan, or student loan. It could keep you from being able to rent an apartment, it could even prevent you from landing that great new employment opportunity you were applying for.

That’s why it pays to know your credit score and to know that you are entitled to a free report by law every year from each of the three bureaus. You can check the same credit report from a different bureau every four months if you want to. Scan it carefully for abnormal activity, such as accounts or credit cards you did not open. You can order the report through each agency, or at https://www.annualcreditreport.com. They will offer additional services for an additional charge, but you really just need the credit score.

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If you are worried about your credit as you move through your divorce, you can arrange for credit monitoring for a very low charge and receive email updates if there are any changes, applications for credit, missed payments on debt accounts, etc.

If there’s any good news about divorce and credit, it’s that the divorce itself has no effect on your credit score. Credit scores are affected negatively due to the actions (or inactions) of the parties involved. If you take the time to educate yourself about your personal credit, you will be that much closer to the resolution of your dissolution.

By Kimberly R. Nelson, Contributor