Released: December 27, 2006

Is your credit history still married?

Source: Aleksandra Todorova, SmartMoney

In retrospect, Sandra Scott shouldn’t have let her ex-husband keep the house. When the two divorced in June 2005, they decided he would continue living there with their daughter. The plan? For him to refinance the property within 90 days of the divorce and become the sole debtor on the mortgage.

That never happened. Now mortgage payments have been late or not sent at all, and the house is in foreclosure.

The result: Scott’s credit is in shambles. “I’m pretty strapped,” says the 43-year-old, whose name we’ve changed due to privacy concerns. She now lives with a friend and can’t take on a mortgage of her own, as she is still the primary holder on the old one. “My credit — what I’m responsible for — is impeccable. What he is responsible for, still in my name, has ruined everything good that I’ve done.”

It’s a predicament faced by many former couples today. The marriage may be over and the divorce papers long signed, but one strong bond remains: the credit they once took on together. That can cause trouble for either spouse if the other handles a joint account irresponsibly. Late payments on an account can drag down your credit score, even if your divorce decree says you’re no longer responsible for the debt, says Gerri Detweiler, a credit educator and author of “The Ultimate Credit Handbook.”

And should one ex-spouse stop paying altogether, the creditor can go after the other for the balance.

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