Need help with some credit advise

[yankebabie]

My husband and I are divorcing. We are on very good terms. We both have excellent credit and would like to keep it that way. We want to close our joint credit cards and open new cards in our own names once the divorce is finalized but are worried about taking a big hit on our credit scores if we close those accounts. Any ideas how we should do this to keep our good credit in tact? Should we open new accts first then close old ones? But we worry we may not get cards in our own names with all the other cards we have. Or should we close joint accts first & then open accts in our own names? And should we close all the joint accts at one time. I don't think so but need some advise from someone who knows about this or has gone through this

Thank you

 

[jmartinez1895]

I am sorry about the divorce. Do you have more than one joint account? If so then it might be possible to have the other person removed from the account. So for example, you take the Visa and he gets his name removed from the account. That way you still get the credit history. If it is not possible because of the way the account is set up you will suffer a drop, but it may not be very bad depending on what the rest of your report looks like.

 

[kymom99]

I was going to suggest the same thing. When my dad was living, he took out a joint card with my brother because my brother couldn't get one on his own because he had no credit. years later my brother married and he and his wife ran up a bunch of debt. My dad wanted his name off the original card in case they defaulted but the bank said it had to be paid in full first. After he died they did remove it. If your cards have no balance, they should be able to just remove the name of one of you off each one.

 

[It'sWDW4me]

Call your credit card company(ies). They may be able to split your balances, remove a name, and/or open a second account back-dating it to keep your credit history. When my ex and I divorced many years ago we did something like this.

 

[supersnoop]

You need to talk to your lawyer. Depending on the state you live in, any account opened while you are married may still be considered a joint account. If one of you runs up a credit card bill before the divorce is finalized, the credit card company can still come after both of you. Then you and your ex have to fight it out. So, depending on the state, you might not be able to apply for a new card until after the divorce is finalized. Also, be sure any accounts that are supposed to be closed actually get closed. Again, the credit card company doesn't care about your divorce agreement; it doesn't bind them.

 

[msmama]

Either way, if you both have excellent credit, I doubt it would be a BIG hit.

Did you take the cards out in both names or did one of you open and the other is an authorized user with a second card? If it's the 2nd it's probably an easier process.

I honestly don't remember what my ex and I did, but I can tell you it wasn't a big deal because if it were, I probably would have remembered. I think just calling and saying you're getting divorced, what should you do, is your best bet (customer service people get REALLY nice after you say that, lol).

I'd think the worst that would happen is that you might need a document from your attorney.