COMMENT
Seasonal Jollity For Divorce Lawyers?

Getting divorced is an expensive business and it can leave you in serious debt. It's not a very happy thought, I know, but Christmas happens to be a time of year when couples in troubled relationships finally come to the conclusion that it's time to split up.

According to a survey by Divorce-Online, relationships that are already in trouble are likely to falter during the stressful Christmas period - a view reflected by the increase in calls to divorce lawyers after Christmas and the number of divorce petitions filed before the end of March.

The survey asked whether people believed Christmas had an effect on the decision to divorce in their family with nearly 60% saying it did. And as if a relationship breakdown wasn't traumatic enough, it's a big reason for subsequent debt problems.

In part this is often because separating couples carry jointly held debts into singledom. Even after you've split up, you could still be liable for debts run up by your ex-partner during your relationship and this can apply even if your ex has agreed to pay the debts as part of a divorce settlement.

The key is to make sure that all joint credit cards and loans have been fully transferred to the person responsible for them otherwise creditors are perfectly within their rights to come after you if your ex fails to pay the allocated bills. In most cases, the date of separation in a final judgment or decree officially determines when you are no longer responsible for the debts that your spouse has incurred but you still need to make sure all joint accounts are closed or divided when you separate.

If your ex proves unco-operative from the start, then protect yourself by writing to all joint account providers to inform them of your separation and stating that you will no longer be responsible for any bills run up by your former partner in the meantime.

While it is still possible that creditors might come after you seeking payment for bills your other half may have incurred, the Financial Ombudsman has made it clear in the past that lenders should take reasonable steps to minimise problems once they have been put on alert that joint account holders have separated.

Find out how to Get Out Of Debt