How To Share Debts In A Divorce?

A divorce is a bitter experience that, in the vast majority of cases, is full of pain. To this very delicate situation are added all the procedures that consist in sharing the debts that were incurred during the duration of the marriage.

When there are debts, disagreements, arguments and even differences can arise that prolong the divorce process for longer than expected. To prevent this from happening, we will look at how debts can be divided fairly between the two people who were previously married.

First Steps for Debt Sharing

Before sharing the debts and bringing them to the attention of a lawyer during the divorce process, it is necessary to list them all.

When making a list of all debts, it is important  not to forget when they were incurred, the interest each one bears, what the monthly payment rate they entail, and what the payment date is. After that, present the list of debts to the lawyer. He’ll give you a series of tips, which we’ll also present below.

Tips for Debt Sharing

The moment you present your debts to the lawyer, he will advise you to cordially negotiate with your partner to simplify the process. What happens if one of the members doesn’t want to collaborate? In this case, the most likely is that the debts will be distributed to each one by 50%, regardless of whether the decision is fair or not.

The higher the income, the more debt

If, at the time of dividing the debts, the members of the relationship choose to communicate amicably to resolve the distribution fairly, the lawyer will advise them as follows:

As the article ‘ The Weakest Spouse Protection Principle in Modern Family Law’ points out ,  those with more income will pay more debts. For example, if one member of the couple earned 2,000 reais a month and the other only 900, it would be fair for the first to pay a higher percentage of the debt.

Possibilities of refinancing

Another important tip that we must also take into account is that it is necessary to analyze whether there are possibilities for refinancing some debts. This is usually the case when a property is in the name of both.

When this happens,  the person who takes care of the house usually refinances it, a concept included in the article ‘Out- of-court settlements from the privatist point of view of bankruptcy law’ . Thus, the house is only in your name and the other person is exempt from any liability related to the debt.

individual debts

Although, in most marriages, everything is distributed at 50%, there is the possibility of differentiating individual and joint debts,

For example, if one member of the relationship has his own business and has incurred a debt while the other member is self-employed, there is a possibility that the former is solely responsible for the debt. However, as we have already mentioned, it will all depend on how the couple negotiates and on reaching an agreement that benefits both.

Debts During Divorce

Having debt is already a difficult situation for a couple. If a divorce is added to this picture, circumstances can become quite delicate. For this reason, despite the negative charge of this experience, it is important to try to negotiate as much as possible by maintaining  clear and respectful communication between the members of the couple.

This will save you a lot of time and money. When there are different problems that slow down the divorce process, it drags on and its cost increases.

Above all,  never hesitate to place the divorce process in the hands of a good lawyer who can advise the ex-couple in the best possible way, in order to share the debts fairly for both sides.