Joint CC post-divorce

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AvoToast
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Joint CC post-divorce

Post by AvoToast »

My ex and I had a joint credit card that he was using and assumed under our divorce decree. I messed up and canceled my card but did not realize it was a joint account and my name was still on it until several years later. He has finally closed the account as that was the only way to remove my name. Now there is an account balance and he is working with someone to consolidate debt (I don't really know what he's doing...) but in the meantime is not paying on the closed account. My credit score has dropped almost 200 points and I am worried it will go down more before this is straightened out. Do I have any options other than making the payments on this account or letting it impact my credit?
hachiko
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Re: Joint CC post-divorce

Post by hachiko »

What's the balance? How long has it been since he hasn't paid?

The best advice is probably to contact your divorce attorney.
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Candor
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Re: Joint CC post-divorce

Post by Candor »

I had basically the same circumstance during my divorce and I negotiated with the CC to pay off 50% of the balance and then sued my ex for the amount I paid. My divorce decree explicitly outlined each parties responsibility for this type of circumstance so it was pretty clear cut so my ex paid me the amount plus my atty's fees prior to it going to court, well I assume her parents actually paid it on her behalf. Good luck.
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CAsage
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Re: Joint CC post-divorce

Post by CAsage »

You might be able to add an explanation that this is not you, to any impacted credit agencies about this mistake in your divorce (not ensuring that any credit with your name was completely removed from bad ex). Your lawyer should have known better, oh well. If you aren't applying for any new credit in the immediate future, hopefully he will resolve and clean it up. Suggest getting a current report from annualcreditreport and look for other snakes.
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mptfan
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Re: Joint CC post-divorce

Post by mptfan »

CAsage wrote: Sat Apr 01, 2023 12:53 pm You might be able to add an explanation that this is not you, to any impacted credit agencies about this mistake in your divorce (not ensuring that any credit with your name was completely removed from bad ex).
This was not a mistake in the divorce, the OP is obligated to pay for charges that were made on the joint account and the divorce decree does not change that.
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CAsage
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Re: Joint CC post-divorce

Post by CAsage »

mptfan wrote: Sat Apr 01, 2023 1:05 pm
CAsage wrote: Sat Apr 01, 2023 12:53 pm You might be able to add an explanation that this is not you, to any impacted credit agencies about this mistake in your divorce (not ensuring that any credit with your name was completely removed from bad ex).
This was not a mistake in the divorce, the OP is obligated to pay for charges that were made on the joint account and the divorce decree does not change that.
The mistake was that the OP did not ensure that their name was removed from the obligation. Yes, I'm sure they divided up the assets and debts, and the divorce papers said who pays/owns what going forward. But the result is the OP's name was still on the account! Did the Bad-Ex continue to charge more? That might have added to the problem by increasing the debt. The account should have been closed. Yes, I get that banks etal won't release someone from the debt, as they want both parties liable. If they both assumed some of the presumed debt, then I guess there may not have been a solution. Hope the Bad-Ex refinances into their own name. I still think it's a valuable lesson for anyone else reading this, for future divorces or partnerships, to look hard at obligations and if at all possible, debt should be in one name post-divorce. Wish OP the best.
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Re: Joint CC post-divorce

Post by mptfan »

CAsage wrote: Sat Apr 01, 2023 1:12 pm The mistake was that the OP did not ensure that their name was removed from the obligation.
I'm not sure it's possible for one person to be "removed from the obligation" to pay for a joint credit card.

Unlike a credit card with an authorized user, you generally cannot simply remove one name from a joint credit card. Most issuers will require you to close the account.

https://www.thebalancemoney.com/how-to- ... %20account.

Unlike with an authorized-user credit card, where you can easily remove yourself from the primary user's account, you'll need to pay off and close a joint account if you no longer want the card. And because it's a joint account, both cardholders will need to agree to closing it.

https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-expe ... edit-card/

It can be difficult to remove your name from a joint account. You can certainly call the credit card company and ask to be removed. They might agree if your ex-spouse has sufficient income to qualify alone for the account. Here’s what you need to know if that is not successful.

The credit card company’s position right now is that the account was opened in good faith by you and your ex-spouse and, in the same good faith, the credit card company extended the credit to you both. The fact that your circumstances have changed via a divorce doesn’t make a difference to the credit card company. Credit was extended and used. Even though the use of the card has been canceled, the account itself is still active as there is still a balance due. Until that balance has been paid in full, your name is going to be associated with this account if you can’t get your name removed. If the credit card company is unable to get a payment from your ex, it will most certainly look to you.


https://finance.yahoo.com/news/removing ... 00358.html
plog
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Re: Joint CC post-divorce

Post by plog »

Do I have any options other than making the payments on this account or letting it impact my credit?
First those aren't mutually exclusive. You can make payments and those prior late payments and that balance are still going to impact your credit for a while. Second, technically yes, but practically no. You can try and get off this, but you're fighting an uncaring beaucracy. It'll be a fight and take a while even if it does happen. Then there's a 70% chance the history remains with you even though its no longer your obligation. You can also add a personal statement, but let's be honest, the only person who will read it is you as you edit it. It's 2023 people aren't reading credit reports, computers are and they're only looking at numbers, not using AI to parse your personal statement.
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ResearchMed
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Re: Joint CC post-divorce

Post by ResearchMed »

mptfan wrote: Sat Apr 01, 2023 3:49 pm I'm not sure it's possible for one person to be "removed from the obligation" to pay for a joint credit card.

The divorce terms could have required that that one account be paid off (one way or another) and closed, to avoid post-divorce financial entanglements just like this.

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mptfan
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Re: Joint CC post-divorce

Post by mptfan »

ResearchMed wrote: Sat Apr 01, 2023 3:58 pm
mptfan wrote: Sat Apr 01, 2023 3:49 pm I'm not sure it's possible for one person to be "removed from the obligation" to pay for a joint credit card.

The divorce terms could have required that that one account be paid off (one way or another) and closed, to avoid post-divorce financial entanglements just like this.

RM
Yes, that's possible, but the divorce terms do not change the OP's obligation to pay the credit card issuer in the event the ex does not comply with those terms.
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Re: Joint CC post-divorce

Post by HomeStretch »

If there is an account balance, have you confirmed with the credit card company that your ex in fact really was able to close the account?

Are you on good terms with your ex where you can explain how the issue if affecting your credit? Perhaps your ex would then choose to pay off this balance separately from whatever debt consolidation is going on.
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ResearchMed
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Re: Joint CC post-divorce

Post by ResearchMed »

mptfan wrote: Sat Apr 01, 2023 4:01 pm
ResearchMed wrote: Sat Apr 01, 2023 3:58 pm
mptfan wrote: Sat Apr 01, 2023 3:49 pm I'm not sure it's possible for one person to be "removed from the obligation" to pay for a joint credit card.

The divorce terms could have required that that one account be paid off (one way or another) and closed, to avoid post-divorce financial entanglements just like this.

RM
Yes, that's possible, but the divorce terms do not change the OP's obligation to pay the credit card issuer in the event the ex does not comply with those terms.

Right. Given the actual divorce terms, it's too late now to mandate this.

However, there *was* a way to avoid this particular type of post-divorce entanglement. One or both attorneys dropped the ball here. It may not have been predictable that this *would* happen, but it certainly wasn't hard to realized (especially with experience in such areas) that this *could* happen.
And alas, it did.

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CAsage
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Re: Joint CC post-divorce

Post by CAsage »

ResearchMed wrote: Sat Apr 01, 2023 3:58 pm The divorce terms could have required that that one account be paid off (one way or another) and closed, to avoid post-divorce financial entanglements just like this.
RM
The quite sensible solution to this would have been ... prevention. And why so many houses get sold in divorce, because neither party can afford to remain on a mortgage for a house that goes to only one person. Oh well, not great options at this point. Appeal to Bad-Ex or his family to pay the darn thing off?
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mptfan
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Re: Joint CC post-divorce

Post by mptfan »

I am not aware of anything that could have been done in the divorce agreement to negate the OP's obligation that is owed to the credit card issuer independent of any divorce agreement.
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ResearchMed
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Re: Joint CC post-divorce

Post by ResearchMed »

mptfan wrote: Sat Apr 01, 2023 4:08 pm I am not aware of anything that could have been done in the divorce agreement to negate the OP's obligation that is owed to the credit card issuer independent of any divorce agreement.

To require that the card be paid off and then closed.
Then it is all... over.

How they did that (pay and close) could have had several different methods, better or worse from each person's perspective. But part of the overall divorce agreement.

This assumes that the card issuer/creditor would not allow all of the obligation to be formally transferred to just one of them. Depending upon financial situations, this may not have been possible, given that there was no requirement for the creditor to "cooperate". They had/have the right to do their own best to make sure the debt is paid or would be paid, etc.

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Re: Joint CC post-divorce

Post by Broken Man 1999 »

Best way to avoid these entanglements is to not have joint credit cards.

I have always hated having joint accounts. It wasn't due to trust issues, it was simply two people messing around in just one account meant everyone needed to be on the same page about the checks written, the charges made. The last joint credit card account was our Shell gas card, and that is been gone for decades, our joint checking account gone once our mortgage was paid off.

I have to believe many if not most younger couples have established credit in their own names since people seem to be getting married later than earlier generations.

DW has better credit than I do because I often do extended payments with zero interest, or balance transfers. Not to mention some months I use far more credit than others if a lumpy bills comes in. We both have excellent scores, though.

One of DW's favorite entertainers was Helen Reddy, whose song I a Woman was released in the early 70ties, and fit the mood of many young women coming of age. Having a wife and three daughters I was 100% behind the empowerment movement.

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AvoToast
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Re: Joint CC post-divorce

Post by AvoToast »

A big lesson learned is review your credit report closely post-divorce. My score was stable and good so I didn't dig further to see I was still attached to the account. And we had both thought I was an additional card holder not that it was a joint account.
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Re: Joint CC post-divorce

Post by mptfan »

ResearchMed wrote: Sat Apr 01, 2023 4:18 pm
mptfan wrote: Sat Apr 01, 2023 4:08 pm I am not aware of anything that could have been done in the divorce agreement to negate the OP's obligation that is owed to the credit card issuer independent of any divorce agreement.
To require that the card be paid off and then closed.
Then it is all... over.
It is not possible for the divorce agreement to "require" the card to be paid off or closed. Sure, the divorce agreement could say that, but the credit card issuer has no obligation to follow the divorce agreement and would very likely ignore it.

The reality is that there is nothing either spouse can do to force the other to pay off a credit card. Yes, it can be put in the divorce agreement, I get that, but there is nothing either spouse can do to enforce it with the credit card issuer in the event one of the spouses does not comply with the agreement.
Last edited by mptfan on Sun Apr 02, 2023 8:06 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Joint CC post-divorce

Post by ResearchMed »

mptfan wrote: Sun Apr 02, 2023 8:00 am
ResearchMed wrote: Sat Apr 01, 2023 4:18 pm
mptfan wrote: Sat Apr 01, 2023 4:08 pm I am not aware of anything that could have been done in the divorce agreement to negate the OP's obligation that is owed to the credit card issuer independent of any divorce agreement.
To require that the card be paid off and then closed.
Then it is all... over.
It is not possible for the divorce agreement to "require" the card to be paid off or closed. Sure, the divorce agreement could say that, but the credit card issuer has no obligation to follow the divorce agreement and would very likely ignore it.

The reality is that there is nothing either spouse can do to force the other to pay off a credit card. Yes, it can be put in the divorce agreement, I get that, but there is nothing they can do to enforce it with the credit card issuer in the event one of the spouses does not comply with the agreement.

Huh?

This has nothing to do with the card issuer.
The divorce agreement is between the two spouses.
Get the card paid off and closed before the divorce is final.

Or are you suggesting that if the card is fully paid off, the issuer might refuse to close it (and thus one person could still add charges)?

RM
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Re: Joint CC post-divorce

Post by mptfan »

ResearchMed wrote: Sun Apr 02, 2023 8:06 am This has nothing to do with the card issuer.
The divorce agreement is between the two spouses.
Get the card paid off and closed before the divorce is final.

Or are you suggesting that if the card is fully paid off, the issuer might refuse to close it (and thus one person could still add charges)?
I am saying several things. First, it sounds nice in theory to "require" a credit card to be paid off and closed, but in practice there is nothing one spouse can do to force another spouse to do anything. The other spouse may 1) simply not agree to close or pay off the account, or 2) may simply not do it even if it is put in the divorce agreement. And the spouse may not realize that the other spouse did not pay off or close the account for some time after the divorce is final (like in this case) and the practical difficulty of trying to enforce an agreement years after the fact is real. Is he/she going to hire a lawyer and file something in court? And then what? Get an order for the other spouse to pay something when they may not have the means to do so? And what if they don't? It gets messy and expensive and not as easy as you present it to be.

And the other spouse may simply not have the money or the means to pay off the credit card even if he/she wanted to, so the reality of a lack of funds may trump the theory of what should be done.

I am also saying that the other spouse may simply refuse to close the account and refuse to agree to close the account and continue to use the account and there is nothing that the other spouse can do to force the issue.
Last edited by mptfan on Sun Apr 02, 2023 8:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
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ResearchMed
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Re: Joint CC post-divorce

Post by ResearchMed »

mptfan wrote: Sun Apr 02, 2023 8:12 am
ResearchMed wrote: Sun Apr 02, 2023 8:06 am This has nothing to do with the card issuer.
The divorce agreement is between the two spouses.
Get the card paid off and closed before the divorce is final.

Or are you suggesting that if the card is fully paid off, the issuer might refuse to close it (and thus one person could still add charges)?
I am saying several things. First, it sounds nice in theory to "require" a credit card to be paid off and closed in theory, but in practice there is nothing one spouse can do to force another spouse to do anything. The other spouse may 1) simply not agree to close or pay off the account, or 2) may simply not do it even if it is put in the divorce agreement. And the spouse may not realize that the other spouse did not pay off or close the account for some time after the divorce is final (like in this case) and the practical difficulty of trying to enforce an agreement years after the fact is real. Is he/she going to hire a lawyer and file something in court? And then what? Get an order for the other spouse to pay something when they may not have the means to do so? And what if they don't? It gets messy and not as easy as you present it to be.

And the other spouse may simply not have the money or the means to pay off the credit card even if he/she wanted to, so the reality of a lack of funds may trump the theory of what should be done.

I am also saying that the other spouse may simply refuse to close the account and refuse to agree to close the account and continue to use the account and there is nothing that the other spouse can do to force the issue.

One last comment on this.
The card gets paid off and closed *before* the divorce is final.
If this is impossible, then either the divorce proceedings were already in trouble (one party refusing to play nice or at all), or perhaps a better attorney is needed.
It's almost all negotiable prior to the divorce, or the parties disagree and the divorce isn't going through. That latter is an entirly different, and more serious, matter.

The money could, IF necessary, be taken from one spouse's settlement and used to pay off the card, or half of it, or whatever is decided in terms of splitting assets. Before the divorce is final.
Get a court order to do it if necessary; it's already obvious this isn't a "cooperative" divorce by this point.
This is a lot easier than, say, a court order to partition the family home, meaning selling it and splitting the returns.

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mptfan
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Re: Joint CC post-divorce

Post by mptfan »

ResearchMed wrote: Sun Apr 02, 2023 8:22 am The card gets paid off and closed *before* the divorce is final.
If this is impossible, then either the divorce proceedings were already in trouble (one party refusing to play nice or at all), or perhaps a better attorney is needed.
It's almost all negotiable prior to the divorce, or the parties disagree and the divorce isn't going through. That latter is an entirly different, and more serious, matter.
Yes, almost everything is negotiable before the divorce, but you cannot force the other spouse to agree to anything. This is the reality, regardless of what you think should be done. And it is unlikely that the first spouse will not want the divorce "to go through" because the other spouse will not agree to close a credit card. Usually there are much bigger issues at play in a divorce proceeding. The realities of life are often much more complicated than our theoretical Boglehead discussions about optimizing finances.
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Re: Joint CC post-divorce

Post by mptfan »

ResearchMed wrote: Sun Apr 02, 2023 8:22 am The money could, IF necessary, be taken from one spouse's settlement and used to pay off the card, or half of it, or whatever is decided in terms of splitting assets.
What settlement? The average American is broke and has thousands of dollars in credit card debt and very little, if any, savings.

As Bogleheads, myself included, we often forget how different we are, financially, compared to the average American.
Last edited by mptfan on Sun Apr 02, 2023 8:39 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Joint CC post-divorce

Post by montanagirl »

ResearchMed wrote: Sat Apr 01, 2023 3:58 pm
mptfan wrote: Sat Apr 01, 2023 3:49 pm I'm not sure it's possible for one person to be "removed from the obligation" to pay for a joint credit card.

The divorce terms could have required that that one account be paid off (one way or another) and closed, to avoid post-divorce financial entanglements just like this.

RM
That would have no effect on the creditor, who is not a party to the agreement. OP's remedy would be to sue the ex but not if he simply forgot she was on the card. That's on her.
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Re: Joint CC post-divorce

Post by hachiko »

You don't have to force the spouse to do anything. The card can be closed by the spouse that wants it closed. Then it just becomes about money, which is relatively simple to deal with. If spouse b doesn't want to pay off the credit card, spouse a pays it off and that gets accounted for in the divorce proceedings.

This isn't really difficult to deal with at all.
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Re: Joint CC post-divorce

Post by CAsage »

hachiko wrote: Sun Apr 02, 2023 12:03 pm You don't have to force the spouse to do anything. The card can be closed by the spouse that wants it closed. Then it just becomes about money, which is relatively simple to deal with. If spouse b doesn't want to pay off the credit card, spouse a pays it off and that gets accounted for in the divorce proceedings.

This isn't really difficult to deal with at all.
Sweeping assumption that there is money floating around to pay it off! Clearly this was not the case.
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Re: Joint CC post-divorce

Post by hachiko »

CAsage wrote: Sun Apr 02, 2023 4:21 pm
hachiko wrote: Sun Apr 02, 2023 12:03 pm You don't have to force the spouse to do anything. The card can be closed by the spouse that wants it closed. Then it just becomes about money, which is relatively simple to deal with. If spouse b doesn't want to pay off the credit card, spouse a pays it off and that gets accounted for in the divorce proceedings.

This isn't really difficult to deal with at all.
Sweeping assumption that there is money floating around to pay it off! Clearly this was not the case.
I don't think that is clear at all from OP's posts. OP hasn't even said whether there was a balance on the card at the time of divorce.

But either way, there are ways to deal with things if you don't trust one spouse to pay, and they're not that difficult.
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Re: Joint CC post-divorce

Post by mptfan »

hachiko wrote: Sun Apr 02, 2023 12:03 pm You don't have to force the spouse to do anything. The card can be closed by the spouse that wants it closed.
This is not necessarily true, one spouse cannot close the account without the other. Go back to my post of April 1 and look at the links I posted.
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Re: Joint CC post-divorce

Post by tibbitts »

mptfan wrote: Thu Apr 06, 2023 11:59 am
hachiko wrote: Sun Apr 02, 2023 12:03 pm You don't have to force the spouse to do anything. The card can be closed by the spouse that wants it closed.
This is not necessarily true, one spouse cannot close the account without the other. Go back to my post of April 1 and look at the links I posted.
I was confused by one credit card specifically (Discover, vs. all the others) where I was unable to remove what I thought was an authorized user. It was very confusing. But I was able to unilaterally close the account, and sort of got paid to do that (got the new card first-year bonus for the replacement card, but lost decades of history on what was my oldest card.) All my other cards behaved as expected. The original card had been opened by me alone so I'm not sure how I got into a position where I couldn't remove someone from the account.
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Re: Joint CC post-divorce

Post by hachiko »

mptfan wrote: Thu Apr 06, 2023 11:59 am
hachiko wrote: Sun Apr 02, 2023 12:03 pm You don't have to force the spouse to do anything. The card can be closed by the spouse that wants it closed.
This is not necessarily true, one spouse cannot close the account without the other. Go back to my post of April 1 and look at the links I posted.
I assume you're referring to the Experian article which states in one sentence that all joint owners "will" need to agree to close the account, and then just moves on. I know that statement is incorrect because at least 2 issuers (the only two I'm familiar with related to this issue) allow any joint cardholder to unilaterally close the account. I can't say for sure that no issuer will require all cardholders to close, but I'm not convinced based on the Experian article.
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Re: Joint CC post-divorce

Post by mptfan »

hachiko wrote: Thu Apr 06, 2023 1:24 pmI can't say for sure that no issuer will require all cardholders to close...
Right, you can't, so the situation might not be as easy to deal with as you claim.
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Re: Joint CC post-divorce

Post by toddthebod »

mptfan wrote: Sun Apr 02, 2023 8:24 am
ResearchMed wrote: Sun Apr 02, 2023 8:22 am The card gets paid off and closed *before* the divorce is final.
If this is impossible, then either the divorce proceedings were already in trouble (one party refusing to play nice or at all), or perhaps a better attorney is needed.
It's almost all negotiable prior to the divorce, or the parties disagree and the divorce isn't going through. That latter is an entirly different, and more serious, matter.
Yes, almost everything is negotiable before the divorce, but you cannot force the other spouse to agree to anything. This is the reality, regardless of what you think should be done. And it is unlikely that the first spouse will not want the divorce "to go through" because the other spouse will not agree to close a credit card. Usually there are much bigger issues at play in a divorce proceeding. The realities of life are often much more complicated than our theoretical Boglehead discussions about optimizing finances.
It defies belief that a judge can force an unwilling spouse to sell a house but can't force him or her to sign off on closing a credit card.
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Re: Joint CC post-divorce

Post by ResearchMed »

toddthebod wrote: Thu Apr 06, 2023 2:21 pm
mptfan wrote: Sun Apr 02, 2023 8:24 am
ResearchMed wrote: Sun Apr 02, 2023 8:22 am The card gets paid off and closed *before* the divorce is final.
If this is impossible, then either the divorce proceedings were already in trouble (one party refusing to play nice or at all), or perhaps a better attorney is needed.
It's almost all negotiable prior to the divorce, or the parties disagree and the divorce isn't going through. That latter is an entirly different, and more serious, matter.
Yes, almost everything is negotiable before the divorce, but you cannot force the other spouse to agree to anything. This is the reality, regardless of what you think should be done. And it is unlikely that the first spouse will not want the divorce "to go through" because the other spouse will not agree to close a credit card. Usually there are much bigger issues at play in a divorce proceeding. The realities of life are often much more complicated than our theoretical Boglehead discussions about optimizing finances.
It defies belief that a judge can force an unwilling spouse to sell a house but can't force him or her to sign off on closing a credit card.

Right.

The thing here is that a Judge has a LOT of power once a case is in their court.

The "unwilling spouse" doesn't actually need to "sign off" or even "agree". IF the Judge orders something done, and it is legally possible for it to be done, then ... it's pretty much done (may take some time/etc.).
The unwilling spouse could appeal (and appeal some more), perhaps file a complaint about the Judge or whatever... but it's pretty unlikely that an order to close the joint charge account as part of a divorce is going to get reversed unless there is quite a back story involved.

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Re: Joint CC post-divorce

Post by Captain America »

Many years ago (1990?) I went through a similar situation. After we separated I got my own credit cards and never used the joint accounts again. Years later I was contacted by a credit card company in regard to a credit card balance. Once I explained that I was divorced, never used the credit card since seperating, provided evidence of divorce, and they confirmed I never charged as much as one penny on the card since seperation, I was never asked to pay on the card again.

You might try contacting the credit card company and explaining you similar situation.

Good luck.
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mptfan
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Re: Joint CC post-divorce

Post by mptfan »

toddthebod wrote: Thu Apr 06, 2023 2:21 pm
mptfan wrote: Sun Apr 02, 2023 8:24 am
ResearchMed wrote: Sun Apr 02, 2023 8:22 am The card gets paid off and closed *before* the divorce is final.
If this is impossible, then either the divorce proceedings were already in trouble (one party refusing to play nice or at all), or perhaps a better attorney is needed.
It's almost all negotiable prior to the divorce, or the parties disagree and the divorce isn't going through. That latter is an entirly different, and more serious, matter.
Yes, almost everything is negotiable before the divorce, but you cannot force the other spouse to agree to anything. This is the reality, regardless of what you think should be done. And it is unlikely that the first spouse will not want the divorce "to go through" because the other spouse will not agree to close a credit card. Usually there are much bigger issues at play in a divorce proceeding. The realities of life are often much more complicated than our theoretical Boglehead discussions about optimizing finances.
It defies belief that a judge can force an unwilling spouse to sell a house but can't force him or her to sign off on closing a credit card.
It shouldn't defy belief because they are different situations. If you own a house, you have the power to sell it, but if you have an account with a credit card issuer your have a contract that is subject to the terms of the contract and that's not the same thing as a unilateral ownership of property.
hachiko
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Re: Joint CC post-divorce

Post by hachiko »

mptfan wrote: Thu Apr 06, 2023 1:39 pm
hachiko wrote: Thu Apr 06, 2023 1:24 pmI can't say for sure that no issuer will require all cardholders to close...
Right, you can't, so the situation might not be as easy to deal with as you claim.
No. You have to point to evidence that all account holders are required to consent to an account being closed or otherwise consent to remove the spending ability. Provide an issuer that has this policy, not some generic statement on a blog post.
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mptfan
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Re: Joint CC post-divorce

Post by mptfan »

hachiko wrote: Thu Apr 06, 2023 10:04 pm You have to point to evidence that all account holders are required to consent to an account being closed or otherwise consent to remove the spending ability. Provide an issuer that has this policy, not some generic statement on a blog post.
No I don't. And what I provided was not a generic statement on a blog post, it was a specific statement in an article published by Experian.
cjking
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Re: Joint CC post-divorce

Post by cjking »

This random blog article says that "generally" you don't need both parties to agree to close an account.
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 decline
https://www.credit.com/blog/how-to-kick ... 20declined.
hachiko
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Re: Joint CC post-divorce

Post by hachiko »

mptfan wrote: Fri Apr 07, 2023 9:17 am
hachiko wrote: Thu Apr 06, 2023 10:04 pm You have to point to evidence that all account holders are required to consent to an account being closed or otherwise consent to remove the spending ability. Provide an issuer that has this policy, not some generic statement on a blog post.
No I don't. And what I provided was not a generic statement on a blog post, it was a specific statement in an article published by Experian.
There is zero evidence in this thread to backup your statement. And the fact that it was a blog post on the Experian website doesn't change the nature of the article. A generic statement is one that expresses generalizations about complete categories, for example, "all joint cardholders must agree to close a joint credit card".

"all joint cardholders must agree to close" (the generalition)
"a joint credit card" (the complete category)

A specific statement would be "U.S. Bank allows any joint cardholder to close a joint credit card."

If you can't find even a single issuer that requires all party's consent to close/stop allowing additional purchases, that's telling. This is from U.S. Bank's cardmember agreement:
33. Cancellation of Your Account: We may cancel your Account or suspend your
ability to obtain Account credit immediately, without notice, if your Account is in
Default. Even if you are not in Default, we may cancel your Account by providing
notice to you. You may cancel your Account by notifying us by telephone or in
writing. If you have a secured Account, your termination request must be made in
writing. If this is a joint Account, we will honor a request by either of you to cancel
the Account.
(emphasis mine).

So as I said, the statement made in the Experian article is incorrect.
Last edited by hachiko on Fri Apr 07, 2023 1:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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turnturnturn
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Re: Joint CC post-divorce

Post by turnturnturn »

plog wrote: Sat Apr 01, 2023 3:57 pm
Do I have any options other than making the payments on this account or letting it impact my credit?
You can make payments and those prior late payments and that balance are still going to impact your credit for a while.
Please be careful with this. By making any payment, you may be acknowledging responsibility for the debt. Would you be OK with that? IANAL.
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