Friday, August 31, 2012

Divorcing Your Debt

While a divorce can be a way to legally separate yourself from your spouse, it doesn't allow you to separate yourself from your debt. Keep reading to find out more about divorce and your debts.

When a married couple is considering the possibility of divorce, it is not just an emotional decision, but a financial one as well. Personal finances must be taken into careful consideration so that the best course of action can be taken. Often, one spouse is more financially dependent on the other which may require a spouse to pay alimony if that is decided upon in the terms of the divorce. Alimony is a debt that cannot be discharged with divorce just like child support. This is just one of the ways in which a divorce can have a drastic effect on personal finances.


Spouses often share everything, and that includes debts. If you and your ex-spouse took out a loan together you will have to decide who ends up with the payments. This is where the issue of property division will come into play. If a loan that was in both spouses' names gets thrown into the property division mix then it is possible that the loan will go solely to one party or the other. Sometimes however, both ex-spouses will retain equal obligation to the loan. This makes things tricky if one ex-spouse wishes to file for bankruptcy but the other does not.

In the event that your ex-spouse files for bankruptcy and they list a loan that you co-own in their paperwork, this does not release you from obligation to pay the loan. Bankruptcy only affects the person's debt who is filing. In the event that this happens, the spouse who owns the loan after bankruptcy is obligated to pay off the remaining balance. Divorce is a difficult enough time that is sometimes made even more complicated by the financial issues that are thrown into the mix.

If you have recently filed for divorce then make sure that you have a full understanding of who owns what loans. The terms of your divorce will be vital in understanding your financial obligations for the future. You may have incurred new expenses, such as alimony and child support and you may have also gained sole ownership of a particular loan which you are responsible for paying off. If the terms of your divorce have left you financially strapped you may need to consider filing for some form of bankruptcy. The Malaise Law Firm can help you through divorce-related bankruptcy issues so that you can afford to live your life again.

The Malaise Law Firm is a group of attorneys serving those in the Houston, Texas area who are facing the possibility of bankruptcy. Filing for bankruptcy may be your best option if you recently went through a divorce and cannot afford to pay all of your new obligations. For information about these topics and more, get in touch with a somekeyword from the firm today.

No comments:

Post a Comment