If you and your spouse have decided to part ways, you may be focusing on the divorce right now. While you do need to place the bulk of your attention on the divorce, you also need to think about life after the papers are finalized—including your financial life. Your finances will be attached to your spouse until the divorce is final, which means they could be doing considerable damage to your credit right now. Luckily, there are some steps you can take that will help protect your finances and your credit. Here are three simple things you need to do right now that will prevent your spouse from ruining your credit while you wait for your divorce to finalize.
Pay a Visit to Your Bank
Now that you're going through a divorce, your friends and family may have suggested that you empty out your joint bank accounts, but that's the last thing you want to do. If you empty your joint accounts, you could find yourself facing legal problems. However, you do need to pay a visit to your bank. The first thing you want to do is obtain a print-out of your current account activity, including the balance. The next thing you want to do is open a personal account of your own. Finally, talk to your bank about requiring both signatures before money from the joint account can be transferred or withdrawn.
Cancel Joint Credit Cards
If you and your spouse share joint credit cards, you need to get those under control as quickly as possible. You don't want your spouse to max out the credit limits while you're waiting for divorce. If your spouse max's out your credit cards, and then walks away from the debt, you could be left holding the bag for those purchases. To prevent that from happening, contact each of your credit card companies and cancel the cards. That way, no further purchases can be made with the cards. Your spouse may still walk away from the debt, but at least they won't be able to rack up additional charges.
Take a Close Look at Your Credit
Finally, now that you're going through a divorce, you need to take a close look at your credit. Looking at your credit report will help you identify any hidden accounts that your spouse may have. Not only that, but it will help you monitor your spouses credit activity in areas that could affect you, such as falling behind on payments that they agreed to handle during the divorce.
For more information, contact divorce law firms like Maruca Law.
