How to Divide Credit Card Debts in a Divorce
One of the elements of a divorce case is to undertake a distribution of the assets and debts accumulated during the course of the marriage. Dividing assets and debts is one of the major challenges in divorce cases. Many couples possess credit cards with balances that are divided during the divorce proceedings. There are a number of tactics that are taken in order to fairly and equitably allocate this type of debt in a divorce.
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Instructions
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Add up the total balance due on all credit card accounts. From a legal standpoint, the spouse who specifically made the charges on a particular card generally is not relevant. The combined balance of all credit cards is considered debt of the marriage and attributable to both spouses.
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Add the combined balances on all credit cards to the overall debt amassed by you and your spouse during your marriage. By taking this step, you obtain a clearer picture of what you must deal with in regard to the marital debt issue.
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Divide the comprehensive debt, setting aside 50 percent to both you and your spouse. The presumption is that each party is responsible for dealing with half of the debt following a divorce. Theoretically, both spouses benefited equally during the marriage from debt incurred, including through the use of credit cards.
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Negotiate with your spouse any potential offsets to an equal division of debt. For example, if one spouse made undisclosed charges on a credit card for items that clearly provided no benefit to both spouses, that balance legitimately is set aside exclusively to the spouse who made those charges.
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Add up the total appropriation of debt to each spouse after considering all relevant and reasonable offsets.
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Assign individual debts (including specific credit card accounts) to each spouse to approximate the total of actual debt set aside to each party.
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Draft a property settlement agreement that includes the specific manner in which individual debts are allocated. Include a provision in the property settlement agreement that if a party fails to honor the commitment to pay off an assigned debt, that spouse is held in contempt of court.
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