My sister would like to remove herself from the liability of her husband's credit cards. There are several cards that he had when they got married and he transfers balances constantly. She does not have access to the cards, does not purchase anything on the cards, and her name is not on the accounts; but she is concerned about being liable for the debts after a divorce. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
RE: Removing name from joint c For each card in question, she needs to determine whether or not she is simply 1) an authorized user or b) a co-applicant. An authorized user is someone whose name, ssn, signature did NOT appear on the application when the account was opened, but for whom a card was requested after the fact. A co-applicant (usually a spouse) is "co-owner" of the account. She should be able to call the 800 number on the statements/cards to find out which is the case. (If she cannot get the statements, she needs to request a copy of her credit report from each of the 3 bureaus - these will have the account numbers on them, and hopefully with a little detective work she can track down the banks/800 numbers for them). If she is simply an "authorized user", she can write each issuing bank requesting that (her) card be cancelled. If she is a "co-owner" (i.e. card is a joint card), then she will have the authority to cancel the account over the telephone on the spot. If you do a search on my name, you will find a detailed posting on what to do with credit cards in the event of a divorce. To summarize: all joint accounts need to be cancelled, joint assets (cars, tvs, etc.) need to be sold if necessary to raise enough cash to pay them off in full PRIOR to the divorce being finalized. Also, be warned: If she lives in a community property state, she may still be liable no matter what she does, UNLESS the accounts are closed and paid off PRIOR to finalizing of the divorce.
RE: Removing name from joint c If she's not on the accounts (a joint account), then the only thing you have to worry about is whether or not she lives in a state that considers a spouse's debt as debt of the other spouse as well. Funny as it may sound, some states don't care whether or not you are offically 'on the account' - your spouse's debt are your legal obligation.
