New York Divorce Laws & Credit Card Debt

A divorce is not only the ending of a marriage, but it is also a disentangling of a couple's joint and individual financial responsibilities. A New York couple facing divorce needs to take into consideration financial obligations, including credit card debts, and must address such issues in the divorce. Talk to a New York divorce attorney if you need specific legal advice about dividing your credit card debt responsibilities in a divorce.

Divorce Property

When a New York couple gets divorced, the couple has to divide all the property that either spouse owns between themselves. If the couple cannot come to an agreement on how to divide property, including terms on how to divide responsibilities for debts, the divorce court will divide the property on an "equitable distribution" basis. This means the court will look at the total assets and debts of the couple and divide fees in a manner it believes is fair, though not necessarily equally.

Debt Obligations

There are many ways in which credit card debt can be divided in a divorce in New York. For example, if one spouse has a credit card debt of $10,000, the couple can agree that the other spouse will pay the cardholder $5,000 for his half of the credit card debt. The court may also take the total depth of the couple into account and award a lump sum alimony or spousal support payments from one spouse to the other that also addresses the debt.

Credit Card Agreements

While in New York divorce will permanently separate the property interests of both spouses from one another, that does not mean the divorce decree itself will modify any terms of a credit card agreement that either spouse had entered into. The spouses are still under the obligations imposed in the credit card agreement, meaning that if they have a joint credit card, both spouses are responsible for paying the debt regardless of the manner in which the divorce divides the property or the obligation.

Joint Accounts

If a divorcing couple in New York still has a joint credit card account after the divorce is finalized, either spouse can still be held responsible for paying the debt by the credit card company. The best solution in these situations is to cancel the joint credit card and apply for individual accounts, or modify the account so that the account is held only by the spouse to whom the court grants the debt responsibility.