Am I Responsible for My Spouse's Credit Card Debt?

Spouses with irresponsible spending habits or poor money management skills not only cause stress in a marriage but may also impact your ability to obtain loans, qualify for rentals and even to be hired for certain jobs. Maintaining separate accounts generally keeps your debts separate; however, in some instances collections officers may still get in touch with you over debts that belong solely to your spouse.

Type of Account

If you have kept your finances separate, you are generally liable only for your own accounts. Your credit is impacted only by the debt that you accrue on accounts in your name. Therefore, you are responsible for accounts that you and your spouse own jointly. Both parties are equally accountable for the debt on a joint account, so if your spouse refuses to make payments on the account and it goes into default status, collectors may contact you.

Community Property States

In community property states, you may be held accountable for your spouse's debt even if you have separate accounts. The idea is that you have equal rights to the income you bring in jointly and must therefore share responsibility for each other's debts. The community property states are Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas and Washington. The state of Wisconsin also practices community property rules under the Uniform Marital Property Act.

Considerations

If debt collectors begin to hassle you regarding debts that belong solely to your spouse, you may take action to prevent them from contacting you. Get in touch with the Federal Trade Commission or your state attorney general to report the collection agency in question. Also, order your credit report from the Annual Credit Report website and review it to make sure that you are not listed as a joint owner of any of the accounts that should only be in your spouse's name.

Closing Joint Accounts

It is much easier to open a joint credit card account than to close one, simply because the account must be paid off to close it. If you and your spouse no longer want to have any joint accounts, you must pay off the full balance of the joint account. The Federal Trade Commission explains that either account holder may close the account, however, the creditor is not required to turn the joint account into individual accounts.