Posted on June 10, 2009 at 4:41 am When I get married, would me and my husband share debts too-under the law I mean. I know we would share assets. I'm asking because I am anticipating separation or divorce-not that I want for those to happen, I just want to know where I'd stand, what with all the financial crisis around...

Posted on June 10, 2009 at 4:43 am For practical reasons and in the event that the relationship falls apart, monetary obligations between spouses should be separate from the onset. When two people get married it does not have to mean that they should also share or inherit each others’ debts and credit history--unless they really want to. If that is the case, as required by the law, the couple has to apply for joint credit. Their individual debts and credit history will continue to be separate but their joint debts will appear on both of their reports. This means that if the husband has a poor credit history but the wife has a good credit history, the husband’s credit will not have a negative effect on the wife’s credit history.

Posted on June 10, 2009 at 4:51 am What is joint debt?

Posted on June 10, 2009 at 4:54 am Joint debt is when you and your husband take out and sign a joint credit agreement (like secured and unsecured loans, mortgage, joint bank accounts, joint tenancy, council tax, etc.) together. This means that both of you are liable for the repayments of what you borrowed.

Posted on June 10, 2009 at 4:59 am It means that you alone are not  responsible for half of the money owed because as far as the creditors are concerned-- both parties are equally liable for the full amount that they took out. Sometimes couples take out a loan when the relationship is smooth sailing, confident that they can pay it together, but when something unfortunate happens such as a bad split, a serious problem of “who is going to pay now?” arise. Then it goes to court, how difficult the case is going to be depends on the nature of the relationship.  Sometimes one partner refuses to make any contributions to the repayments so it leaves the other partner to shoulder everything. Again as far as the creditors are concerned, the agreement is that either or both of the parties are liable for the debt, that if neither or both of you fail to communicate your plans with the them, they are going to go after either or both of you to collect, even if it reaches the court.

Posted on June 10, 2009 at 8:06 am Also, a joint account will remain as such even if you try to remove one of the user's names from the credit card account. It can't be done. This is different from an authorized user, which can be removed from the account if the primary cardholder makes a phone call to the creditor to do so.

Posted on June 15, 2009 at 3:20 pm Ok I have a question along those lines- what if I am an authorized user on someone else's credit card account and they default on the payments? Will my credit score suffer as a result? Thanks for the info in advance!

Posted on August 12, 2009 at 3:07 am With regard to debt and relationships---TimeOutDebt --- apologies for the delay in answering this. Since you're just an authorized user on the card and not someone who actually cosigned on it, your credit score will not suffer, nor will you be obliged to make payments for that card.

Posted on August 12, 2009 at 4:15 am I wonder though if debt has a direct effect on personal relationships. I'm sure there is.

Posted on September 11, 2009 at 5:59 am Debt and relationships - this thread's title should be money and relationships instead.