Strategy 5: Separate Your Accounts after a Divorce. During a marriage, it's common for a couple to obtain joint credit card accounts and co-sign for various types of loans. Coming into the marriage, the information on each person's credit report and their credit score will eventually impact their spouse, especially when new joint accounts are opened or a spouse's name is added to existing accounts. Consolidating all your accounts once married makes record-keeping easier. If a couple gets divorced, however, this can create a whole new set of credit-related challenges.
First, understand that just because you obtain a legal divorce, it does not release one or both people from their financial obligations when it comes to paying off a joint account. As long as both names appear on the account, both parties are responsible for it.
As your divorce proceedings move forward, be sure to pay off and close all joint accounts, or have one person's name removed from each account, meaning only one person will remain responsible for it.
It will probably become necessary for one or both parties in the marriage to re-establish their independent credit. When doing this, start off slowly and build up your independent credit over a few years. Immediately applying for a handful of new credit cards, a new car loan and/or a new mortgage within a short period of time after your divorce won't help to improve your credit report and credit score. Try to spread out new credit card acquisitions and new loans by at least six months each.
