Credit card responsibility

I get asked occasionally by clients about Joint Credit Cards. The Question usually goes this way.
My wife and I got divorced and I keep getting calls about payment of her credit cards. I never used it but why am I involved?

You are involved because either the Credit Card was of joint nature, meaning both of you applied and both signed on the dotted line. OR You applied either knowingly or unknowingly and your wife was assigned as an authorized user.

Either way you are pretty much on the hook. On the first situation, because it is a shared responsibility not dealt with with your seperation agreement. The second.. Because regardless of seperation or marriage, your name is on the account as principle account holder.

Can a creditor force me to do a bankruptcy?

Yes and No. no one can literally force you to do a bankrutpcy in America, however they may force you to decide to do so by applying so much pressure that Bankruptcy is seeminly your only option.

I suggest you contact an approved Credit Counselling agency as per the Dept of Justice establish list and do your pre bankruptcy counselling to establish your situation better and with that do your Needs Assessment at that time to see where you stand. If you do the Bankrutpcy then those two preliminary tasks are out of the way, If not you will know where you stand and go from there.

Are my Welfare and SSD payments going to be affected?

Welfare and Social Security Disability are usually unaffected by the Bankruptcy if you have not been found defrauding the government on any issue along the way. People on both of these are not removed from having credit problems and may need some assistance. Fees for services regarding filing and counselling will likely be waived, however expect the courts to order some sort of follow up counselling after the fact. Check however with your social worker or case manager if they have an opinion or any guidence available before signing on.

I am bankrupt, why do I still receive offers for Credit?

The answer is simple. You are on a mailing list and lists are bought and sold over and over again and not necessarily updated with the Credit Bureau. No one whom sends you this stuff out knows what your particular situation is nor could really care. Only pay attention to mailing received from your creditors in case they wish to update their files with information current to your situation.

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