Divorce Decree Says So
Creditors DO NOT have to recognize any agreement made during a divorce.

When Mary divorced several years ago, her ex agreed to pay off the couple's $20,000 in credit-card debt. They made the agreement part of their official divorce decree.

That, Mary thought, was that. Except every couple of months since then, creditors have called her because her ex has missed a payment. Despite the divorce agreement, she's still on the hook, and all the late payments have trashed her credit. "I just assumed my responsibility ended" once the divorce was final, said Mary, a single mother of 2 living in Miami. "But it turns out that's not true."

Many divorced people learn the hard way that creditors don't care how property and bills are divided in a divorce. If a debt was incurred in a joint account, both spouses are responsible for paying it back.

Don't expect a phone call. Your agreement with your creditors predates your split, explains Divorce Attorney Joseph Tripoli of Deer Park, NY. You can't force a creditor to abide by an agreement you make later with your spouse. And not every divorced person gets a phone call to notify them that their ex is in arrears. It was only after St. Louis resident Patricia Walker pulled her credit report, for example, that she learned her ex-husband had failed to pay the mortgage on the family home she received in their property settlement. Since her name was still on the loan, the foreclosure could remain a major blot on both of their credit reports for seven years.

In an ideal world, divorce attorneys would alert the clients to these dangers and help them protect themselves. In reality, the discussion may never happen. A couple may not use an attorney, or the lawyer may not be fully aware of the credit problems an irresponsible or vengeful ex can cause.

You need an action plan. "How many divorce attorneys sit down with their clients and talk about how they're going to handle joint debts?" Tripoli asked. "They let [the clients] go off and solve that on their own." Shutting off the tap before a divorce is final, Tripoli says, can prevent years of headaches afterward. But even if it's too late to close that particular barn door, you will still be able to contain the damage if you speak with the divorce credit specialists.