Fort Lauderdale Divorce Lawyer Blog
When you meet with your divorce attorney in Broward, it will be explained to you that liabilities incurred during the marriage will most likely be equally divided amongst you and your spouse as part of the equitable distribution. You will be required to fill out a financial affidavit and exchange documentary evidence of your liabilities as of the date of filing and even two to three years before your divorce.
As a divorce attorney in Fort Lauderdale, it is important that a client provide a credit report. A credit report ensures that the party is aware of liabilities in their name. In some cases, a spouse may have incurred debt in the other spouse’s name without any prior knowledge or consent.
Maintaining good credit is an important aspect of everyone’s life. Even those of who are newly separated, or recently divorced credit is very important. There are important credit implications that those individuals going through a dissolution of marriage may not know about.
In order to combat a misconception, a divorce does not relive you of your marital or premarital debt obligations. These are, but not limited to A-Credit card debt; B-A car loan; C-Mortgages on real property such as a house.
The first thing to find out is to see if your name is on the loan agreement. While it is true that your ex-spouse may have acquired the entire obligation to pay, but if those loans are not paid on time, it could affect your credit score dramatically.
Next, go get yourself a free credit report to better understand your current credit score. If you have any outstanding debt obligations, (like the ones listed above) it is recommended to check semi-annually, to ensure any debts that are in your name, are still being paid. And remember to document everything; this could save you headaches later.
After that you should see if you have any open joint bank accounts that you had/have during the marriage. During the separation, and dissolution process you and your spouse should figure out who will be responsible for paying certain debt obligations.
Lastly, once you are divorced you should immediately establish your own credit separate from your former marital credit. You should start to build your own credit history right away. This can be done by opening up a credit card with a reasonable limit, so that you can afford to pay off when the payment is due. Remember, always make your credit card or other debt obligation payments because the next 18-24 months are the most important when separating yourself from your married credit.