How to Dispute Credit Problems in a Divorce
- 1). Pull your credit reports before you file for divorce. You can get a free copy of your credit report from all three credit reporting bureaus--Experian, Equifax and TransUnion--from www.annualcreditreport.com; you are entitled to one free set of reports per year. Gather all credit card statements and liabilities.
- 2). Review the credit report for any accounts that do not belong to you or your spouse. Make a list of these, if any. Then review the credit report for all valid debts. Organize the debts into three columns: debts in your name only, debts in your spouse's name only, and joint debts.
- 3). Present the list to your divorce attorney to help him with the division of debts. If you do not have an attorney, use the lists in creating an equitable distribution worksheet for division of assets and liabilities to use in a settlement agreement or to present to the court in a contested action.
- 4). Contact the three major credit reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion). Request that they remove accounts that do not belong to you or your spouse. The request must be done in writing. If a debt is joint, have your spouse sign the letter that disputes the debt.
- 5). Ensure that the Marital Settlement Agreement and the Final Judgment provide stipulations that the spouse who takes a particular account has a certain number of days to remove the other spouse's name from the account, if it is a joint account. The Marital Settlement Agreement and the Final Judgment also should state that the spouse who now owns the debt holds the other spouse harmless from same.
- 6). Contact the credit reporting agencies to dispute any debts awarded to your spouse and not paid by your spouse if those debts were awarded to the spouse in the Final Judgment. Along with the letter to the credit reporting agencies, forward a certified copy of the Final Judgment, so that the credit reporting agencies can see that you are to be held harmless from the debt in question.
- 7). File a civil lawsuit against your ex-spouse if the credit reporting agencies refuse to remove the bad debt from your credit report. If the Final Judgment is worded properly, the court can order the defaulted spouse to compensate the injured spouse.
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