Credit Card Debt and Divorce: Who Pays, What Happens, and How to Protect Yourself

• 📋 Key Takeaways - Divorce changes your relationship with your spouse, but it does not change your relationship with your creditors. If your name is on a credit card account, you are liable for the balance regardless of what a divorce decree says. In community property states, you may also be liable for credit card debt your spouse incurred during the marriage even if your name is not on the account. The most dangerous misconception in divorce is that a judge’s order overrides the original agreement you signed with a credit card company. It does not. Creditors can and will pursue anyone whose name appears on the account, and missed payments will damage both spouses’ credit. Understanding how credit card debt actually works in divorce is essential to protecting your financial future and making smart decisions about resolution strategies like hardship programs, debt settlement, or bankruptcy.

Divorce is one of the most common triggers for financial crisis in the United States. It is also one of the most common reasons people contact us for help with credit card debt. The pattern is predictable: two incomes become one, shared expenses become duplicated expenses, legal fees pile up, and credit card balances that were already stretched thin become genuinely unmanageable. According to recent data, the average divorcing couple carries roughly $15,000 to $30,000 in combined credit card debt, and for many, the months following a divorce are when that balance grows the fastest.

But the financial stress of divorce is compounded by confusion about who is actually responsible for what. People assume that because a judge divided the debts, those debts are now the other person’s problem. They assume that because their ex was ordered to pay a joint credit card, the credit card company will honor that arrangement. These assumptions are wrong, and they lead to damaged credit, unexpected collection calls, and balances that spiral out of control. Let us walk through exactly how credit card debt works in divorce, what your state’s laws actually mean, and what to do when the debt becomes more than you can handle on a single income.

Your Divorce Decree Does Not Override Your Credit Card Agreement

This is the single most important thing to understand about credit card debt and divorce, and it is the thing that catches the most people off guard. When you signed up for a credit card, you entered into a contract with the card issuer. That contract says you are responsible for the balance. If your spouse is a joint account holder, both of you signed that contract. A divorce decree is a court order between you and your spouse. It is not a contract with your creditor. The credit card company was not a party to your divorce, did not agree to its terms, and is not bound by them.

What this means in practice: if a judge assigns a joint credit card balance to your ex-spouse and your ex stops making payments, the credit card company will come after you. They will report late payments on your credit report. They can send the account to collections. They can sue you. Your legal recourse is to take your ex back to family court for violating the divorce decree, but that takes time and money, and in the meantime your credit is being destroyed and the balance is growing with late fees and penalty interest.

We see this scenario constantly. Someone comes to us with $20,000 in credit card debt that their ex was supposed to pay. Their ex stopped paying six months ago. The accounts are delinquent, collections are calling, and the person’s credit score has dropped 150 points through no fault of their own. By the time they reach out, the problem has compounded significantly. The lesson is not to trust that your ex will honor the decree. The lesson is to address shared debt as aggressively as possible before or immediately after the divorce is finalized.

Community Property vs. Common Law States: How Your State Determines Who Owes What

How credit card debt is divided in divorce depends on where you live. The United States uses two different systems, and the difference between them is significant.

Forty-one states follow common law (equitable distribution) rules. In these states, debt is divided based on whose name is on the account and what the court considers fair. If a credit card is in your name only, you are generally responsible for it. If it is a joint account, both spouses are responsible. The court has discretion to assign debt in a way that considers each spouse’s income, earning potential, and financial circumstances. "Equitable" does not mean "equal." It means fair, and what a judge considers fair can vary widely.

Nine states follow community property rules: Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin. In these states, nearly all debt incurred during the marriage is considered jointly owned, regardless of whose name is on the account. If your spouse opened a credit card in their name alone and ran up a $12,000 balance during the marriage, you are typically jointly responsible for that debt under community property law. Debt incurred before the marriage or after legal separation is generally considered separate, but the lines can be blurry, especially if pre-marital debt was used for shared expenses.

If you live in Florida or New York (the two states where a significant portion of our clients are located), you are in a common law state. Our guides on debt relief in Florida and debt relief in New York cover state-specific considerations that are relevant here.

Joint Accounts, Authorized Users, and Individual Accounts

How much liability you carry depends on the type of account. There are three scenarios, and each works differently.

Joint accounts. Both spouses are equally and fully liable for the entire balance. "Equally" means the creditor can pursue either of you for the full amount, not just half. Even if the court assigns the debt to one spouse, the credit card company can pursue the other. The only way to truly sever your connection to a joint account is to pay it off and close it, or to have one spouse’s name contractually removed by the creditor (which most creditors will not agree to while a balance exists).

Authorized users. If you were added to your spouse’s credit card as an authorized user (not a joint account holder), you are generally not liable for the debt. Authorized users can make purchases on the account, but they did not sign the credit agreement. However, the account’s payment history does appear on the authorized user’s credit report, so if the primary cardholder misses payments, it can still damage your credit score. Contact the issuer to remove yourself as an authorized user as soon as possible during separation.

Individual accounts. If a credit card is in one spouse’s name only and the other spouse is not a joint holder or authorized user, the named spouse is generally solely responsible. However, in community property states, individual accounts opened during the marriage may still be considered community debt. And even in common law states, if an individual account was used for household expenses (groceries, rent, medical bills for children), a judge may assign a portion of that debt to the other spouse in the divorce.

📊 According to the CFPB, a divorce decree does not change the contract between you and your creditors. Even if your divorce settlement assigns a debt to your ex-spouse, the creditor can still pursue you if your name is on the account. Sending a copy of the decree to the creditor does not release you from the obligation.

The Hidden Debt Trap: When Your Ex Stops Paying

This is the scenario that turns a manageable situation into a crisis, and it is far more common than people realize. Here is how it typically unfolds.

During the divorce, a joint credit card with a $15,000 balance is assigned to your ex-spouse. Your ex agrees to make payments and the judge signs off. For the first few months, payments are made. Then they stop. Maybe your ex lost their job, maybe they are struggling with their own expenses on a single income, or maybe they simply decided not to prioritize it. Whatever the reason, the credit card company does not care. They see two names on the account and they are coming after both.

Within 30 days of the first missed payment, a late payment hits both credit reports. By 60 to 90 days, the damage is compounding. By 120 to 180 days, the account may be charged off and sent to collections. Our article on what happens if you stop paying your credit cards details this entire timeline. The critical point is that this timeline runs against you even though the divorce decree says the debt is your ex’s responsibility.

Your options at this point are limited but real. You can make the payments yourself to protect your credit and then take your ex back to family court for reimbursement. You can attempt to negotiate directly with the creditor for a modified arrangement. Or, if the total debt picture has become unmanageable alongside your own bills, you can explore resolution strategies like debt settlement or bankruptcy that address the entire situation rather than fighting over individual accounts.

How to Protect Your Credit During and After Divorce

The time to act is before the divorce is finalized, not after. If you are currently going through a separation or divorce, there are concrete steps you should take immediately to limit the financial damage.

Pull your credit reports from all three bureaus. You need a complete picture of every account with your name on it. Look for joint accounts you may have forgotten about, authorized user accounts, and any balances you were not aware of. This is your inventory, and every account on this list is a potential liability.

Close or freeze joint credit card accounts. If you cannot pay off joint accounts before the divorce, at minimum request that the accounts be frozen so no new charges can be added. Some issuers will convert a joint account to an individual account, but most will not do this while a balance exists. If you can agree with your spouse to pay off and close joint accounts before the divorce is finalized, do it. This is the cleanest solution.

Remove yourself as an authorized user on your spouse’s accounts. This is straightforward and most issuers will process it immediately. It removes the account from your credit report and eliminates the risk of your score being affected by their payment behavior going forward.

Set up monitoring on any accounts you cannot close. If a joint account remains open with your ex responsible for payments, set up online access so you can monitor the balance and payment status. If a payment is missed, you want to know immediately so you can act before the damage escalates.

Document everything. Keep records of all account balances at the time of separation, all payments made by each spouse, and all communications about debt responsibility. If you end up in court over unpaid debt, documentation is everything.

When the Debt Becomes Unmanageable on a Single Income

Here is the math that makes divorce so financially devastating for many people. During the marriage, two incomes supported one household and one set of credit card payments. After the divorce, each person has roughly half the income but more than half the expenses. Rent or mortgage is no longer split. Utilities, insurance, and groceries are no longer shared. If there are children, childcare costs may have increased. And the credit card debt that was accumulated during the marriage is still there, often growing because minimum payments were stretched to cover the new living arrangement.

The numbers illustrate this clearly. If you were a two-income household earning a combined $90,000 with $25,000 in credit card debt at an average 22% APR, the minimum payments were tight but possible. Now you are earning $45,000, your expenses have increased, and you still owe $12,500 (your half) or more. At 22% APR, minimum payments on that balance are barely covering interest. You are not making progress. The balance is not shrinking. And every month you fall further behind, the options narrow. Our debt calculator can model this scenario with your actual numbers so you can see exactly where you stand.

This is the moment where people either take action or start the slow slide into delinquency. If you recognize yourself in this paragraph, here are the paths forward, ranked by severity.

If your hardship is temporary and you can repay the principal with lower interest: Contact your credit card issuers and ask about hardship programs. Prepare a hardship letter that documents the divorce, your income change, and your proposed repayment plan. Many issuers will temporarily reduce your interest rate, waive fees, or lower your minimum payment for 3 to 12 months.

If the total balance is more than you can realistically repay: Debt settlement can reduce what you owe by 30% to 50% on average. This is particularly effective after divorce because the financial hardship is well-documented and creditors understand the situation. The settlement process typically takes 24 to 48 months, and while it does impact your credit during that period, the side effects are temporary and the financial relief is permanent. Be aware that forgiven debt may have tax implications through a 1099-C, though most people in this situation qualify for the insolvency exclusion.

If the debt is overwhelming and your income and assets are minimal: Bankruptcy provides a legal fresh start. Chapter 7 can discharge credit card debt entirely in 4 to 6 months. Chapter 13 restructures repayment over 3 to 5 years. Both halt all collection activity immediately upon filing. Our comparison of bankruptcy vs. debt relief can help you evaluate which approach fits.

If you are not sure which option is right: Our comprehensive guide on how to pay off credit card debt walks through every strategy side by side with real cost comparisons. For a dollar-specific analysis, the $20,000 credit card debt breakdown is particularly relevant since that is close to the median combined credit card debt for divorcing couples. Use our budget calculator to map out your new single-income budget and identify how much you can realistically allocate toward debt.

The Emotional Component Matters More Than People Admit

We talk to people every week who delayed dealing with divorce-related debt for months or years because the debt was tangled up with anger, grief, and resentment toward their ex. The credit card balance is not just a number. It is a reminder of a failed marriage, broken promises, and financial decisions that were made jointly and are now being paid for individually. That emotional weight makes it easy to avoid looking at the numbers, to ignore collection calls, and to tell yourself you will deal with it later.

Later is the most expensive time to deal with credit card debt. At 22% APR, a $15,000 balance generates over $3,300 in interest in a single year. Every month of avoidance costs real money and reduces your options. The most productive thing you can do is separate the debt from the divorce emotionally and treat it as what it is: a financial problem with financial solutions.

Moving Forward

Divorce is a financial reset whether you want it to be or not. The question is whether it becomes a reset that leads to long-term stability or one that leads to years of compounding debt. The people who come through divorce in the best financial shape are the ones who address the debt early, understand that divorce decrees do not protect them from creditors, and choose a resolution strategy that matches their actual financial picture rather than the one they wish they had.

If you are going through a divorce and carrying credit card debt, start with the facts. Pull your credit reports. List every account. Calculate your new monthly income against your new monthly expenses. Run the numbers through our debt calculator. Then explore your debt relief options with clear eyes. If you want to talk to someone who helps people in this exact situation every day, learn about The DRC Program and what it could look like for your debt level. Browse our FAQs and financial literacy resources for additional context. The debt is real, but so are the solutions. The sooner you act, the less it costs and the faster you get to the other side.