How to Protect Your Credit Rating During and After Your Divorce
During your divorce, it is likely you will have a lot on your mind such as concerns about the cost of the process, rights to see your children and how your property may be divided. One area you might not consider is the impact your divorce might have on your credit rating. Below are some simple tips to help you protect your credit rating during and after your divorce.
Check your credit reports
The first thing you should do is to check your credit report. You can do this by contacting credit reporting agencies. This will allow you to see a list of individual and joint debts which are attached to your name. You should spend some time carefully examining the report and ensure that there are no discrepancies, such as debts you did not sign for.
Remove authorised users
A credit card will often allow personal accounts to include an additional authorised user who is able to access the account but who is not responsible for making repayments. An angry or bitter spouse could easily increase their spending on your credit card and escape any responsibility to pay for it. If you spouse is listed as an additional user on one of your credit cards, you should take immediate action to remove them. You can do this by calling the credit card company and requesting that your spouse be removed from the account. If you are listed as an authorised user on any of your spouses credit card accounts, you should also request that your spouse remove you as this will show on future credit reports and could damage your credit rating.
Invest in credit monitoring services
You may consider investing in a credit monitoring service during your divorce. This will provide additional protection as the service will keep an eye out for any unusual activity relating to your credit accounts, protecting you against your spouse attempting to open a new line of credit using your name.
Understand how divorce will impact your finances
It is likely that divorce will wreak havoc with your personal finances. Not only do you face the cost of the proceedings but you also have to adjust to living on a single rather than a joint income. Taking the time to draw up a budget and reassessing how much debt you are able to handle given your new circumstances is vitally important.
If you are considering divorce you should contact a divorce lawyer for help and advice.
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