How to Emancipate a Spouse's Debt

Spouses are not responsible for covering each others' debts taken out as individuals. In general, it complicates matters to have one spouse pay the debt taken out by another directly. It's possible to repay an individual debt using funds from a joint account. If there's no joint account, it's more convenient to transfer the funds to the debtor spouse's account and have them pay the debt. There are no tax penalties for this kind of transaction. Having one spouse pay another's debt directly from their own account can result in unwelcome complications to the process.

Instructions

1

Order copies of your spouse's credit report from the three major bureaus (Transunion, Experian and Equifax). You can get a free credit report once per year through Annual Credit Report from each bureau. After the first report, you'll need to pay a fee. You can access reports through the bureau websites. This report will list all outstanding debts for your spouse along with relevant contact information for the creditors.

2

Develop a debt repayment plan with the assistance of your spouse. As debts accrue interest at a steady rate, and most require you to make monthly payments, it's better to pay off as much as possible without adversely affecting your ability to live. Plan to limit expenditures and to increase monthly payments to reduce debt burden as quickly as possible.

3

Transfer funds into your spouse's individual account or your joint account to use to pay the relevant debts. You can pay the debts through your own account, and it's likely that the company will honor them, but the legal status of such payments is questionable. It's safer to make all payments through your spouse's accounts.

4

Continue to make debt payments in this manner while monitoring your spouse's credit report. It's far easier to pay back debt when both spouses work together on a coherent plan. If one member of the couple is out of sync with the other, it can lead to further complications and increased debt.