Among the things that can impact a person’s post-divorce credit situation are credit card matters. And this doesn’t just include how a person uses credit cards after the divorce. It also includes how credit card accounts opened and credit card debt built up during the marriage are handled in the divorce.
When it comes to property division, Louisiana is a community property state. Now, the rules related to community property don’t just apply to assets, but also to debt. So, understanding what credit card debt and accounts were built up during the marriage and how community property rules would apply to this debt can be very important when a person is getting divorced here in Louisiana. It can help a person understand what actions they can take during the divorce to protect their credit and their rights. It could also help keep them from facing unpleasant surprises, something it is generally best to avoid when it comes to debt.
Skilled divorce attorneys can help individuals with staying properly informed of debt division issues in their divorce and can assist them with navigating such issues during the course of the divorce.
Another thing regarding credit card accounts that can be impactful when going through a divorce is whether a couple decides to shut down all of their shared credit card accounts or to convert some of them to being the account of just one of the ex-spouse’s moving forward. As a recent NerdWallet article noted, in some instances, there could be credit benefits to converting an old account rather than just going to all new accounts.
As this underscores, individual circumstances can play a big role in what sorts of credit-card-account-related actions would make the most sense in a divorce.
Source: NerdWallet, “How to Assess Your Credit Card Needs After Divorce,” Virginia C. McGuire, April 13, 2017