Assets and debts acquired for a household’s benefit are divided evenly between two spouses during an Arizona divorce. By adding up your community property and subtracting your shared liabilities, you could see how much each spouse may receive and what amount of debt requires payment.
If you have credit cards with balances, you may discuss paying them off with cash from your marital estate. Under certain circumstances, CreditCards.com notes that you may not have responsibility for paying half of the shared debt. If you could prove that your soon-to-be ex-spouse used it for “marital waste,” the court may not order you to help pay it off.
How may I show a spouse’s debt as waste?
Some individuals with unusual habits may rack up debts that cause harm to a household. As reported by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, wasteful use of your household’s funds includes addictions such as gambling.
By showing that your spouse wasted community income to support a damaging addiction, the court may not require you to repay half of his or her debts. An empty checking account or retirement fund, for example, may show marital money that went to waste. Receipts or credit card statements showing wasteful spending habits may help prove your claims.
When may I close joint debt accounts?
As noted on Bankrate.com, servicers of accounts you own jointly with your spouse may hold you liable for the remaining balances. To close jointly owned accounts, you could discuss paying them off from your marital estate.
If you cosigned a loan with your spouse, you may have liability for its outstanding balance. To avoid a spouse’s failure to pay from appearing on your credit report, you may negotiate loan repayment terms as part of your divorce.