How to protect your Credit Score from the wrath of Divorce

Unfortunately, matters of the heart can sometimes take the driver’s seat, leaving money matters ridding on backseat when personal drama unfolds during a divorce. However, if you're separating from your spouse — or plan to —protecting your finances, especially your credit standing should be among your top priorities. So, here are five (5) ways to protect your credit score:\r\n\r\n1)Close joint accounts immediately\r\n\r\nSince joint accounts are held by you and your spouse together, both of you are equally responsible for the debt, no matter how it is distributed in the divorce. If an account is left open, your ex can add more debt, make a late payment, miss a payment or default, and you will also be held responsible. The creditor reports account activity to the credit bureau in both of your names and this affects the personal credit score for both individuals.\r\n\r\n2)Notify creditors about your divorce\r\n\r\nAfter you close any joint accounts, send a certified letter notifying your credit card companies, banks and other lenders about your divorce.\r\n\r\nAsk them to provide a current account statement and tell them that you do not intend to be held liable for any debt accumulated after the date of the written letter. Request that they put the account on inactive status so no new additional charges may be added, and stipulate that once the balance is paid in full, the account is to be closed completely.\r\n\r\nIf your spouse is an authorized user on any of your individual accounts, or you're an authorized user on spouse's accounts, each of you should remove the other from the accounts. This will reduce the risk of either party racking up new, unauthorized debts. Again, revoke the authorization on the account via certified mail.\r\n\r\n3)Get monthly statements\r\n\r\nFor any accounts with outstanding balances, insist on getting copies of the monthly statements sent to you. Do the same thing for any accounts you are unable to close or want to keep open for whatever reason. This way, you'll be able to keep track of the accounts and know that timely payments are being made.\r\n\r\n4)Don't fight tooth and nail for the house\r\n\r\nA lot of times in divorce, especially for women, they want to stay in the marital home because that's where they've raised the kids and they have emotional attachment to the home. But looking beyond all the emotionally attachments you need to be really sure you can afford the home because it's often more of a liability than an asset. It's not about who will keep the home, but about who will move on from the home, simply because of the debt surrounding the house.\r\n\r\n5)Keep your address up to date\r\n\r\nIf you move out, your creditors aren't the only ones you should notify about your divorce. You should submit a change of address card at the post office or update it online . This way, any bills, credit card statements or other financial correspondences addressed in your name alone will be forwarded to your new residence. The last thing you want is to miss a payment on a credit account because you forgot about the bill or your ex didn't let you know the mail was just sitting there in your former home.\r\n\r\nWhen all the emotional drama subsides and you find yourself in need of more financial advice. CRIF NM can help you get through it, with our credit services. Remember life is always better with good credit, even if your heart is swimming in deep waters.\r\n\r\nRetrieved from: http://www.aarp.org/money/credit-loans-debt/info-12-2012/protect-your-credit-in-divorce.html\r\n\r\n