I know I’ve mentioned this before, but back in the 1990s I was a collection representative for Discover Card.  I started out working accounts that were 30 days late and ended up working charge-off accounts and doing pre-legal screening on the high-number accounts for possible litigation.  As part of our training, we were responsible to keep up to date on the federal regulations as well as what information was in the card member agreements.  The divorce topic came up often and sure enough, when you signed up for a Discover Card you stated that you were responsible for the debt in the case of a divorce, regardless of what a judge said.

Today in my Google Alerts I received a link to an article from Kiplinger.com entitled “Handling Debt After a Divorce” in the “Ask Kim” section.  Author Kimberly Lankford offers some great advice, here is an excerpt:

Unfortunately, there’s nothing you can do about the harm that was already done to your credit report. A divorce decree is an agreement between the divorcing couple, but “it does nothing to separate their assets, accounts or financial obligations,” says Maxine Sweet, vice-president of consumer education for Experian.

Despite the decree, your name is still on the loan, so you’re liable for all the payments, and the mortgage company is unlikely to remove the delinquency from your report.

Read the entire story here:  Handling Debt After a Divorce. 

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