Who is responsible for the household payments during a divorce?

The separation agreement can create an overwhelming financial time for you. Living apart while legally married can create financial confusion. You or your spouse can deny paying bills during separation.

But, before you know which household bills you are supposed to pay, you shouldn’t stop paying the current bills.

Are you wondering about who is liable for paying the household bills in a divorce?

Well, the spouse, who has his/her name on the bill or agreement, is responsible for paying bills in a divorce.

But, the mortgage, joint credit card bills, debt, and a car loan are the responsibilities for both the spouses in a divorce.

If you know that the household bills are your spouse’s responsibility, you should make sure that the payments are issued for all the monthly bills.

Otherwise, you will be in severe financial trouble later.

Knowing the right answer can save you from the severe credit damage or financial issues during the divorce. Read the article to get all the answers.

Keep making payments of your current bills

Follow the thumb rules when determining the household payments bills during the divorce.

  1. Pay all the bill where your name is included.
  2. Negotiate with your spouse if both of you are jointly liable for a bill.
  3. You shouldn’t take on extra financial responsibilities during your separation with your spouse.
Before you get the separation agreement, you shouldn’t stop paying your current bills.

If the house is yours, you have to pay the utility bill.

Also, you need to pay the car loan and other necessary bills like cable, internet, and phone. In a word, keep paying all the bills that are your current responsibilities.

Maintain a joint account to pay the common bills

If both spouses are working, then depending on their paychecks, they should keep a joint account to pay common bills like a utility, joint debt, house rent, tax, and grocery.

You should talk to each other and be clear about all the common expenses that are to be funded each month.

The low earner spouse can get the temporary spousal support

In any case, if one spouse earns significantly lower than another spouse, then he/she can request for temporary spousal support.

The temporary spousal support is also applicable if one spouse has been out of the workforce for a longer time.

However, this support will not cover every expense. But, it will be there until you find a good job or achieve a better financial situation.

Both spouses should pay the child expenses

Both spouses are liable for the child expenses during the divorce.

The child expenses should be divided between two spouses based on their income.

Usually, one spouse gets the full responsibilities of the child after the separation.

But, the spouse, who doesn’t get the custody, is also liable to pay the child support to the other spouse.

If the spouse without child custody doesn’t pay the child support, then the spouse with custody can claim for the money.

The spouse who signed the rent lease should pay the rent during separation

The spouse, who is the primary signer in the rental agreement, is solely liable for the rent during and after the separation.

If the person stops paying the rent or leaves the house, the owner should ask the rental board for the money or financial compensation. The owner can sue the person whose signature is in the agreement.

If you’ve signed as a cosigner, then you are responsible to pay the rent if the owner doesn’t make the payments.

In addition to this, the other spouse can be forced to leave the house. To avoid this problem, the other spouse (whose sign is not in the lease) can ask the judge to give the permission to live in the apartment.

If the spouse is unable to afford the rent, then the judge will give the order to the other spouse to continue with the rent payments.

Document the bills you are paying

Make sure you document the bills, you are paying, as soon as you file for divorce. By doing so, you can show the court that you are handling some financial responsibilities.

Remember, divorce and debt responsibility is another complicated subject in a divorce.

So, try to pay all the bills that you have in your name. It will help you to stay away from debt after the divorce. Make bill payments easier by considering bill consolidation and budgeting.

Seek help from a lawyer

Divorce can be an emotional phase of life that comes with the various type of complexities. Splitting assets and bills are difficult to understand for a layman.

Thus, you can contact a divorce lawyer and seek help to understand who is responsible for which bills.

The lawyer can help you make an agreement about the household bills until you get the separation agreement.

If your spouse is denying to pay any bill, you can get the temporary order from the court about the bill payments.

Lastly, the time can be stressful during the divorce. But both of you should be very careful about all the monthly bills.

If you ignore the bills, your financial future can be disturbed. Your credit score and the eligibility for future loans will also suffer.

So, it is advisable to make the decision considering the financial ability for both of you.

Sit and divide all the monthly bills equally and pay the bills on time.

If both of you can’t split the bills yourselves, then don’t make any verbal agreement with your spouse.

It is better to involve the court to make a temporary order about the household bill payments.

To do so, talk to your lawyer to seek help for the temporary orders.

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