A New York divorce can no doubt impact a person’s financial obligations and habits, and this can, in turn, affect the individual’s credit score. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for newly divorced individuals to notice a decline in their credit scores. However, a couple of tips may help divorcing individuals to protect themselves from a possible credit score decrease moving forward.
Staying on top of joint debt payments
When people get divorced, they can easily overlook paying their car loan payments or credit card bills due to the emotionally demanding nature of proceedings. However, any missed payment may cause a credit score to drop. Also, if a divorced party is ordered by a family court judge to make monthly payments on a credit card that he or she shares with his or her ex-spouse and misses a payment, this can affect both parties’ credit scores.
Keeping in mind the impact of closing credit cards
When two people move forward with a divorce, they may naturally want to cancel any joint credit cards they have. However, when they do this, they lower the total amount of available credit they have, and this can increase their utilization. Unfortunately, this can lower their credit scores. However, the healthier people’s credit scores are before they embark on the divorce process, the more easily they can absorb such a hit to their scores.
How an attorney can help during these times
Dealing with a marital breakup in New York can understandably be complicated from a financial standpoint. This is especially true for individuals who share debt with their future ex-spouses. However, a family law attorney in New York can help a divorcing individual to navigate the division of debt and property with the goal of attaining a comprehensive and fair divorce settlement with the other party.