Protecting Your Finances During Divorce

Protecting Your Finances During Divorce

Okay, so you're in the middle of a divorce and your ex has somehow managed to ruin your credit even though you were the one who handled most, if not all, of the finances. What do you do? Well, First Wives World has tackled this subject before, and we're going to keep educating you about it because it's soooo important.

As many people know, divorce can bring on financial ruin. If you have merged assets and joint ownership of property (like most married couples do), this is a major issue! I was reading a story that brings up a good point: When you divorce, your marriage ends — but not your shared financial responsibilities. If your spouse racked up debt without your knowledge during the marriage, you may be held responsible for it after the divorce. It sucks, but it's true.

So financial experts agree that you must take action to cut all financial ties with your ex. Here's what you can do for starters:

1. Make sure you know where all accounts are, including bank accounts, mortgage loans, credit cards, and utilities. Even if you and your spouse have decided who gets what property, you need to make sure that the right person is solely responsible for their respective belongings.

2. Remove your spouse's name from all accounts or cancel them completely. You should both handle the canceling together. Start with the bank accounts. If you're taking possession of a car with both of your names on the note, have your spouse's name removed. Make sure that your spouse does the same thing with any property he takes.

And, if you're still paying for any of this property, then you may have to refinance to get the loan down to one name. Any bills you paid together, such as your utilities, should be put in one name. For credit cards, work with the companies to have them transfer half of the balance to two different accounts.

3. Sell your house and divide the profit. Agree on this before getting too far down the road in the divorce.

4. Divide all cash assets before divorce is final and courts get involved.

5. Make sure all financial agreements are documented in case there are any future discrepancies, say for example, a creditor dogging you about your ex's car payments.

6. Protect your credit at all costs. Make it a priority!

• Check your credit score at least once a year to make sure the divorce hasn't affected it adversely.

• Separate or cancel all joint accounts with your ex's help. Sever all financial bonds.

• Alert creditors of your impending divorce.