I’m concerned that my credit is going to be affected as I go through my divorce; what can I do to protect myself?

What you can do to protect your credit when you’re going through a divorce is to establish your own checking and savings accounts right off the bat. Also, if you can establish credit in your own name with credit cards and department stores, do that at this point in time. If you can work with your spouse to transfer any existing debt over to your own credits cards, I would highly recommend that.

Otherwise, when going through a divorce, you must make certain that you are paying your credit obligations, mortgages, etc. on an ongoing basis.

You may also want to write to the credit agencies and your creditors, notifying them that you’re no longer responsible for your spouse’s present or future credit obligations.

Paul J. Toohey is a Certified Financial Planner CFP^® and, Certified Divorce Financial Analyst CDFA^™. He is a member of Collaborative Divorce Solutions, a Collaborative Divorce Group located in Orange County, California.