Divorce Lawyer: How Debt Can Affect a Relationship

Who want to assume someone else’s debt? Most people would not want to do this, but many may end up so if they marry a person with a large amount of debt. There are a number of solutions for this prior to marriage which can be really effective. Dealing with your spouse’s debt during or after marriage could be significantly trickier.

It can be a good idea to do a credit check on your spouse to be before getting married. This is because you could find yourself responsible for making payments on your spouse’s debt during the marriage, if you are financially able to do so. Moreover, while you may be able to get a judgment of reimbursement for any amount that you had to pay for your other spouse’s separate debt, you may not be able to collect on this judgment as your spouse may decide to declare bankruptcy and include you as a creditor from which your spouse is seeking relief.

One option to try to prevent you from paying off your spouse’s debt only to find yourself unable to get reimbursement is to have your spouse get debt relief through bankruptcy law. One concern here, though, is that if your spouse incurs additional debts during the marriage and does not pay those. It may be difficult then for you to claim that you are not responsible for those debts. Moreover, it is generally thought that bankruptcy filings are limited to a certain number of years. There are certain things, however, that are generally not susceptible to a bankruptcy filing such as child support and spousal support.

While this does not mean that you should not get married simply based upon one spouse’s credit liabilities it does mean that it is a good idea to be more aware of your spouse’s entire financial picture. After all, especially if you and your spouse do not sign a pre-nuptial agreement, the two of you will have to spend a lot of time working on the joint finances.

In the event of a breakup, there are a number of things to do. It is generally considered wise to attempt to remove your name from any joint credit card accounts. The law in your state may or may not state how this debt is to be treated and whether it will be separate, but, if it does no harm, you taking your name off should help to protect yourself somewhat.

You will probably also want your name off of the mortgage, if you do not get the house as part of the settlement of property. This is typically only possible, however, if your spouse has sufficiently good enough credit to refinance in their name only. One problem that could arise if your spouse does not refinance is that it could be that you are still responsible for the debt. In other words, if your spouse defaults on the mortgage, you could still have to pay the bill even if you no longer have ownership.

The above material is intended for information purposes only. It is not intended as professional legal advice and should not be construed as such. Attorney William H. Beaumont practices in New Orleans, La.