Contrary to popular belief most divorces are handled in house with the couples working out their differences and dividing up their properties equally. This also includes working out the manner in which they will take care of any outstanding debt.

The first thing any couple should do when getting divorced is finding out how much they owe in debt. This can be done by obtaining your credit report and seeing what accounts you have opened and that you still owe money on, along with what accounts that appear on your credit that are closed but still have an outstanding debt. Notice should also be taken of debts or other bills that may not appear on your credit reports such as memberships to local gyms or other organizations.

Once you have looked into the total amount of debt it is wise to put a freeze on all open accounts that you have agreed to cut-off as part of the divorce. If you have credit cards opens and still desire to have said credit cards, assign a credit card to each individual. Pay off these credit cards first and then each individual should claim responsibility for their specific card once the debt is cleared. These cards should then be placed into the individual name of the cardholder and should no longer be part of joint account. All other credit card accounts should be closed and paid off.

If you are working together with your spouse during the divorce to take care of your outstanding debts you should come up with a plan of action of how you are going to take care of the debt and the time frame you will be working under.

There are many manners in which you can take care of your debt:

• You can assign specific debts to one another and agree who will pay what.
• You can divide all debt equally between one another and work together to pay them off.
• You can assign more debt to one individual in exchange for more property or belongings during the divorce process.

Whatever you decide when it comes to dividing your debts you should make sure that all debts and the means of payment will be put into writing. The easiest and simplest way to do this is by having a lawyer draw up a draft stating what each party will be responsible for.

Otherwise you could run into issues in the future when one party refuses to pay or decides they no longer care about the debt which was created prior to the divorce. However, it is of utmost importance that all debts made as a couple are taken care of before the divorce is final.