You're Credit Report during a Divorce- What to avoid

I have seen credit reports get littered with collections, charge offs, foreclosures, late payments, and just a total disregard for obligations during a divorce. We all know divorce can be a bad experience for anyone that is going through it. There are times where everything is paid on time as well, but the divorce attorney does not know what will affect your credit report in the long run if the divorce decree is not drawn up properly. Here is what you need to know!

Get debts that are not your obligation per Divorce Decree out of your name:

During the process of drawing up the divorce decree make sure you get obligations out of your name that is no longer your responsibility. Make sure that in the decree it clearly states that the other party is responsible for getting obligations out of your name.

Examples:

1. Mortgages; get them refinanced or sold.

2. Credit cards that are joint accounts

3. Land that are joint accounts

4. Car notes that are joint accounts

5. Any obligations that is joint, that is no longer your responsibility per decree.

This is a huge problem out there, getting divorce decrees drawn up properly. Let's assume it's done the wrong way, and the person that is responsible for paying the obligation is late on a payment or two. This particular account is a joint account with your social attached to it. This means the obligations reports to the credit report in your name as well. You now have 2 late payments on your credit report, and you credit score just dropped 50 to 100 points. I am sure you can see why it's important to get this process done correctly. Maybe there is a house that is in both of your names, and you are in the market to buy another house. Unfortunately the attorney did not put in the divorce decree to either sell the old house or refinance it out of your name. The mortgage is a FHA loan, and you only qualify for a FHA loan. Guess what, you cannot have two FHA loans. Now you cannot buy a house. I am sure now you can see the importance of getting a good divorce attorney, and how they need to prepare your divorce decree properly. I see this problem all the time.

Conclusion:

I see this all the time, make sure your credit report is not affect as a result of a divorce. Matters could get worse if you don't have obligations drawn up correctly during this unfortunate process.