When you think of the ways that a divorce might impact your life, you will likely think about things like having to move or pay bills on your own. You might not think about factors like how the divorce is going to impact your credit.
Many people don’t worry too much about credit. To be fair, the only time that you will probably worry about how the divorce impacts your credit is if you are planning to use your credit to make ends meet or to get the things that you need to get.
The divorce is likely going to impact your credit in two main ways. The first is that your income is going to go down since your ex’s income doesn’t count for your income any longer. This means that your debt-to-income ratio will go up.
The other way that your divorce will impact your credit is a bit more complex. If you and your ex have debts together and your ex is supposed to pay for some, you might take a hit to your credit if those payments aren’t made as required.
A divorce is a civil matter, so it is up to the creditors to decide if they are going to honor the terms of the divorce. This means that the creditors could still hold you liable for the debts that occurred during the marriage, even if your property division order notes that your ex should pay them.
If you are concerned about your credit, make sure that you think carefully about the debts in the marriage. How you divide these up could have a negative impact on your credit if your ex doesn’t keep up with the payments.
Source: FindLaw, “Credit and Divorce,” accessed June 02, 2017
