MIAMI – Once a divorce is final, parties frequently seem relieved and anxious to get on with the next phases of their lives.

“That is a common reaction,” said Harriett Fox, (www.harriettfoxcpa.com) a leading forensic accountant with additional specialties in civil and commercial litigation. “However, serious road blocks can suddenly appear which put all of these plans on hold.”

These road blocks often include poor credit scores which weren’t addressed in the divorce settlement.

“Low scores can seriously impact an ability to move on,” said Fox. “Due to activity on joint accounts while married, the now-divorced people are finding they can’t buy a car, secure a new mortgage, or rent an apartment.

“Divorce is hard enough, but problems can continue well after all the papers are signed if the former spouses have poor credit scores.”

According to Fox, people must protect their credit scores before, during, and after a divorce.

“While no one enters into a marriage planning for a divorce, the importance of maintaining or re-building credit scores should be a priority while married,” she said. “The bitterness and anger only increase if parties emerge from a divorce with low credit scores.

“There can be a lot of finger-pointing, especially if one of the spouses is responsible for plummeting credit scores.”

Some of the issues leading to poor credit scores include:

- Late or missed payments
- Activity by a collections firm
- Bankruptcies
- Foreclosures

“These and other problems can frequently occur well before a divorce,” added Fox. “However, these financial difficulties and the accompanying stress can certainly lead to the end of the marriage.”

While the damage may have already been done, Fox points to a variety of strategies that can be put in place to repair credit scores.

Some of these strategies include:

- Determine how debt will be divided in a divorce settlement
- Immediately freeze all joint accounts and develop a plan for quickly paying off the debt and then closing the accounts
- If possible, joint accounts should be closed immediately so that neither party can make charges
- Payroll deposits into joint accounts should immediately stop. These deposits should be directed to a new bank account

“In many cases, the damage to credit has already been done,” added Fox. “However, with the help of qualified divorce professionals and accountants, these problems can be fixed and can permit the former spouses to move on with clean credit and a new lease on life.”

For More Information :- https://harriettfoxcpa.com/