My husband and I moved overseas together but we ended up getting a divorce and he moved permanently overseas while i’m trying to make my way back to america. I’ve been out of the country for the past 6 months and my daughter just found out that my husband did a balance transfer onto two of my credit cards. one card has a $4k balance and the other has $8k last time i checked. both accounts have been permanently closed and i don’t know what to do. the debt isn’t mine it’s all my husband’s and he just wants to leave it he refuses to pay for it. i’m worried that it’ll be an issue for me when i come back.
Should i contact the cards and explain the situation? will i end up needing to pay for it because the cards are in my name?
Husband left me with credit card debt
byu/Usual_Delivery2452 inpersonalfinance
Posted by Usual_Delivery2452
5 Comments
Yes, unfortunately you are stuck paying these. I would call the cards and work out a payment plan before it goes to collections. Did you close the accounts yourself?
Answer would be different if you were still married but you stated you were already divorced.
Edited to Add: Please freeze your credit at all 3 bureaus as well as your children’s. He knows all of those numbers.
I’m guessing he did this before the divorce was final and yes you are responsible for it. And your credit has likely already taken a dive. You need to contact the card company and find that out.
If both of your names are on the card or he is an authorized user on the card you will still be responsible for it.
It’s probably already in collections.
Check in with your divorce attorney. He may have done some legal magic. It’s free to ask.
If he did it after the divorce it was fraud. If he did the transfer before than you are on the hook or your credit gets tanked
Was he even an authorized user on either of your accounts? If he was, then the debt is technically yours, but should have been part of the divorce negotiations/settlement. If he wasn’t, and you didn’t know about it, then it’s fraud, and should be presented to the credit card issuers as such. It doesn’t matter if he was your husband at the time. If he wasn’t on the account, then it’s not your debt.*
*not sure how/if y’all were previously living in a community property state in the USA would affect this.