You are generally not responsible for your spouse's credit card debt unless you are a co-signor for the card or it is a joint account. However, state laws vary and divorce or the death of your spouse could also impact your liability for this debt.
Since California is a community property state, the law applies that the community estate shared between both individuals is liable for a debt incurred by either spouse during the marriage. All community property shared equally between husband and wife can be held liable for repaying the debts of one spouse.
For individual debt, only the spouse who signed for the debt is responsible for it. So, if you have student loans under your name only, your partner isn't responsible for those payments unless they choose to be.
When you get a divorce, you are still responsible for any debt in your name. That means that if you and your spouse had a joint credit card, you are just as liable for that debt as your spouse. ... States handle debt from a marriage in one of two ways: It's either considered "community property" or "common law" property.
Even if your spouse opens up a line of credit in their name only, you could still be liable for that debt. Creditors can go after a couple's joint assets to pay an individual's debt. ... In that case, the creditor can only go after the person responsible for the debt.
Do You Inherit Debt When You Get Married? No. Even in community property states, debts incurred before the marriage remain the sole responsibility of the individual. ... If you signed up for a joint credit card before getting married, then both spouses would be responsible for that debt.
In common law states, debt taken on after marriage is usually treated as being separate and belonging only to the spouse who incurred them. The exception are those debts that are in the spouse's name only but benefit both partners.
In most cases, each borrower is 100 percent responsible for the debt on a credit card. It doesn't matter if you never used the card or if you share expenses 50/50.
Keep Things Separate
Keep separate bank accounts, take out car and other loans in one name only and title property to one person or the other. Doing so limits your vulnerability to your spouse's creditors, who can only take items that belong solely to her or her share in jointly owned property.
If someone takes your credit card and uses it without permission, it doesn't matter whether they're family, a friend or a complete stranger. That's fraud, and legally you can only be held liable for $50. But all major credit card issuers give you a $0 fraud liability guarantee.
If your spouse has debt, you won't take it on just because you're now married. ... If they've taken debt out in their name only, you won't be responsible for paying it back. If you take on joint debt with your spouse, however, then you may be liable if they're not able to keep up with their part of the repayment.
Paying Debts After a Separation
To figure out who has to pay a debt after common-law partners separate, it is important to know who the debt belongs to. Each partner is responsible for his or her own debts, so after they separate, they don't have to help pay the other person's debts.
Credit scores are calculated on a specific individual's credit history. If your spouse has a bad credit score, it will not affect your credit score. However, when you apply for loans together, like mortgages, lenders will look at both your scores. If one of you has a poor credit score, it counts against you both.
If the home is owned solely by your spouse then the house will be sold by the Trustee. If the home is jointly owned (for example by a husband and wife as joint tenants), the joint tenancy is automatically severed upon the bankruptcy of any one of the joint tenants.
A prenup allows you to separate your debt from the debts of your spouse by “waiving” the application of community property. Designation of separate debts will limit the creditors from collecting from the separate debtor. There will be no community debt.
Who Is Responsible for Credit Card Debt When You Die? When you die, any debt you leave behind must be paid before any assets are distributed to your heirs or surviving spouse. Debt is paid from your estate, which simply means the sum of all the assets you had at the time of your death.
Generally, either party can unilaterally close the account by contacting the card issuer over the phone or in writing. Once closed, the cards of both joint account holders and any authorized cardholders will be deactivated, and any future attempt to make purchases will be declined.
Marital Debt Defined
In general, marital debt is debt that was acquired during the duration of the marriage. Separate debt most often means debt that a spouse had prior to marriage. Separate debt means the party who walked into the marriage with the debt is responsible for it after the divorce.
Financial infidelity happens when you or your spouse intentionally lie about money. When you deliberately choose not to tell the truth about your spending habits (no matter how big or small), that is financial infidelity.
Make your spouse an authorized user on your credit card
By someone as an authorized user on your credit card account adds your credit history to their credit report. The effect is most powerful when you add someone to an account with a great record of on-time payments.
Highlights: Getting married and changing your name won't affect your credit reports, credit history or credit scores. One spouse's poor credit won't impact the other spouse -- unless you jointly apply for a loan or open a joint account. Married couples do not have to apply for credit together.
But you typically don't need to get married or divorced to change your name. ... And if you do change your name, you'll need to update it on your credit cards to match the legal documents that reflect your new name.
It means you are eligible for all of the economic and legal goodies afforded to couples with marriage licenses — like tax breaks and inheritance rights. But if you break up, you need to get divorced. As in, a traditional divorce.
A common-law spouse is not entitled to receive the value of the other spouse's property by right. A common-law spouse is only entitled to the other spouse's property if it is given or inherited or there is some other voluntary and conscientious transfer of title.