# Spouse unauthorized credit card expenses



## Honda750 (Feb 12, 2015)

Is there a legal course of action to be taken where a spouse has obtained numerous credit cards at the expense of the other spouse ? 
Is there any legal way for the financially abused spouse to get those credit card charges removed and instead placed in the accountability of the offender ? Does this require legal action ? If the offender spouse agrees to write a confession letter to the affected credit card companies , would this be of any help ? Is there any protection for one spouse against another spouse in this kind of illegal and ill gotten credit ???


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## SunnyT (Jun 22, 2011)

Yes, you have to go a legal route. It's called divorce. 

Even then you may be screwed. Marital debt ya know. 

Call an attorney in your area.


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## EleGirl (Dec 3, 2011)

Honda750 said:


> Is there a legal course of action to be taken where a spouse has obtained numerous credit cards at the expense of the other spouse ?
> Is there any legal way for the financially abused spouse to get those credit card charges removed and instead placed in the accountability of the offender ? Does this require legal action ? If the offender spouse agrees to write a confession letter to the affected credit card companies , would this be of any help ? Is there any protection for one spouse against another spouse in this kind of illegal and ill gotten credit ???


You are not clear on what she/he did. What did they do that was unauthorized? illegal?


Did your spouse use your name to get the cards?

Or did they just get accounts and thus cards, in their own name?

You need to talk to a lawyer.


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## Honda750 (Feb 12, 2015)

Yea I understand that option ....... Thank you


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## WasDecimated (Mar 23, 2011)

My XWW did this too while we were married. She had opened up several credit cards in my name, all online, and proceeded to rack up large balances on them. I found out about her financial infidelity about the same time as I discovered her emotional/physical infidelity. I got stuck paying for 1/2 after the divorce because I couldn't prove it wasn't me. 

My divorce lawyer told me I could pursue this but it was separate from the divorce and I would have to contact another lawyer who understood this type of law. I would start by contacting the credit card company and asking questions anonymously.


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## kristin2349 (Sep 12, 2013)

Have you placed a fraud alert on your credit file with all three agencies? If not you need to do that to keep this from getting worse.

Most credit card companies will not reverse this type of identity theft because it is too hard to prove. In most cases if they agree to it you have to agree to prosecute legally. So you'll have to file a police report, press charges and assist the CC companies in their legal case against her.


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## jb02157 (Apr 16, 2014)

To my knowledge there is no way out of this and it all would be considered marital debt. About the only thing you can do is stop all the accounts or file right away before the debt gets worse. In the long run, you will end up being responsibility for at least some portion of it even though you didn't contribute to the problem. 

Early in my marriage my wife ran up huge credit card bills which was one of the reasons I was considering divorce. One of the reasons I didn't do it is because I found out that I would still be responsible for paying for it because she used cards for accounts we had jointly.


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## wilson (Nov 5, 2012)

Honda750 said:


> Is there any legal way for the financially abused spouse to get those credit card charges removed and instead placed in the accountability of the offender ?


I agree with the other posters that the CC companies may not care who opened the card in this case. They're not going to consider it fraud. 

One way to transfer the debt to her name is for her to get her own cards and then do a balance transfer from the cards in your name to the cards in her name.

If you divorced, some of her assets could be reduced to pay for this debt. That is, if you have $10,000 in the bank, rather than being split $5000 each, her half is reduced by the amount of CC debt she racked up in your name. If there's $4000 on the CC, then you get $9000 and she gets $1000.


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## Evinrude58 (Jun 16, 2014)

Mine ran up 8000$ worth of credit card debt also around the time she started the physical and emotional infidelity. I'm thinking there is a pattern here, LOL. They don't care anymore what the betrayed spouse thinks, so they run up debt and start F'ing anything that walks. Sadly, there's no consequences legally. I'd have my ears to the rail for other things if I were you.
Sorry


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## lexis (Feb 11, 2016)

Marriage is a financial contract. Her debts are your debts, there's no way around it and very little change the courts will hold her fully accountable for any marital debts during the divorce, if there even is one.


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## Grogmiester (Nov 23, 2015)

I think your on the hook.

My XWW racked up thousands over the years. The one I like the best was I as at work and got a call from a nation wide store saying I was over 90 days late on my payments. I said what payment. I don't owe you anything. He replied you have a balance of $2100. I said WHAT ??? 

Left work confronted my XW. Come to find out she was intercepting the mail and throwing out the statements. I got a PO box the next day. She continued To spend money frivously till the day we divorced. She had a closet full of clothes with the tags hanging off them. Never worn. I took all the debt $25K in the D to save my pension and 401K. 

This was 20 years ago and was all disclosed in the financials of my D. Looking back on it now I'm glad I made that choice for 2 reasons. 

1.) if she didn't pay her half on time it still could be reported the the credit agencies and affect me. CC companies dont care if your divorced or not.

2.) when I retire I won't have to deal with her.


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## MarriedDude (Jun 21, 2014)

Grogmiester said:


> I think your on the hook.
> 
> My XWW racked up thousands over the years. The one I like the best was I as at work and got a call from a nation wide store saying I was over 90 days late on my payments. I said what payment. I don't owe you anything. He replied you have a balance of $2100. I said WHAT ???
> 
> ...


I have had several Step-Mothers like this...It's seriously strange behavior..


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## HeartbrokenW (Sep 26, 2012)

Mine was reverse.. i was the major breadwinner...my exh ran up his cards after we split but before the divorce was final. But we went thru the process of removing me off his cards and I removed him off my cards. Divorce was final 3 yrs ago. 2 cc's have taken him to court for nonpayment, but they left me alone. And we're in a marital property state. My credit rating is still quite high. We had 1 joint card and i kept that. 

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk


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## 225985 (Dec 29, 2015)

wilson said:


> I agree with the other posters that the CC companies may not care who opened the card in this case. They're not going to consider it fraud.


I disagree. If OP's husband opened credit card accounts listing her as JOINT owner without her knowledge or consent, then she is the victim of fraud.

OP, you can get a free copy of your credit report every 12 months from each of the three credit bureaus. Go to www.annualcreditreport.com, it is the only site authorized by the federal government for the mandated free reports. Get a copy of each of the reports. They will list accounts for which you are listed as joint (joint) or authorized (not owner). Do this to find out if H opened more accounts that you do not know about.

Next, put a 3 month fraud alert on each of the three bureaus. You can get an extended (long) fraud alert by filling out the proper forms. You will need to file a police report about the fraud.

For maximum protection, put a CREDIT FREEZE or SECURITY FREEZE on your account at each of the three credit bureaus. You will need to contact each bureaus separately. This will prevent H from opening any more accounts in your name. It will also block YOU from getting credit until you unfreeze your account. 

IMO and I am not a lawyer, you will be held responsible for the charges unless you file a police report attesting to fraud. Imo confession letter will not work. Then send a copy of the police report to each of the credit card companies (not just the three credit bureaus) stating that you were a victim of fraud and that you dispute the charges. But right away call each of the credit card companies and CANCEL the credit card account that was unauthorized by you. 

Good luck.


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## 225985 (Dec 29, 2015)

BTW, if your situation is that bad, you need to protect ALL of your other assets. Checking, savings, 401K, investments etc to keep H from draining them. If you work outside the home, open a new account with just your name and have your paycheck go to that account. 

The credit reports will also indicate if H got a second mortgage or equity loan on your house. 

Keep in mind that often banks sell accounts, so might see an unknown account on your credit report, but it might be valid. Your bank or loan company may have sold the account to another bank.


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## Honda750 (Feb 12, 2015)

Thanks for all replies ........ The amount of damages to me is not yet fully known but working on it presently ......... She hit me for credit cards in my name only amounting to about $40,000 ........ There are other cards that are jointly held all those cards have been put into a credit repair agency , I'm bracing for more bad news ......... We have a separation agreement in force although we are still living in same house , I have sternly warned her that I will take her to see the Judge if she messes with my finances against what is in the agreement ......... It's a living nightmare , she was diagnosed Bipolar a couple years ago , not sure if this has any bearing on what she had been up to ........


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## happy2gether (Dec 6, 2015)

file a fraud alert and press charges for identity theft. also depending on your state you may or may not be responsible for a portion of the debt in her name only, and should not be for these fraudulent charges. but you will have to take this down the criminal route, as it is no longer a civil matter.


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## Mclane (Apr 28, 2016)

While it's technically illegal for a spouse to open credit cards in the name of the other spouse without their consent it's almost impossible to prove it. If she'd be willing to sign a confession or something then it might give you a bit of leverage but it probably wouldn't alleviate you of the debt to the credit card company if she doesn't pay.

Anything AFTER the legal separation could probably be contested, and the courts could hold her liable, at least for the debt if not the crime of identity theft but that's still a bit of a reach.


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## 225985 (Dec 29, 2015)

What did she spend the money on? Can anything be returned?


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## Honda750 (Feb 12, 2015)

Just getting back to all the posts again as all advice is greatly appreciated and taken seriously ........ Thank you all !!!
I am not convinced that she will not try to grab money from me again and although we are now legally separated but still living in the 
same house , the situation for me is very scary . The credit card debt hell that she created was in excess of $100,000 but she filed a 
personal bankruptcy to get rid of some of it however it looks like there is still about $40,000 of credit card debt in my name only that she created and about the same amount in joint credit card debt that she also created ....... We are on a credit repayment plan with an agency but the debt load of unsecured credit credit is killing my ability to get a loan of any kind !!! 
She grabbed $$$ out of a checking account of mine a few months ago telling me the money was for an annuity ........ I don't believe it 
I warned her that I would have her in front of the Judge if she did this anymore , any acts of financial impropriety with my finances . 
I'm about exhausted from all of it , my relatives and a close friend are telling me to get her out of my life , I'm starting to believe this is
what I must do but I have a large home to get sold hopefully this summer and then relocate ........ I make a good living but I'm getting 
near retirement age and this has been a most dreadful experience for me the past nearly three years ......... I don't have any answers from her on WHY , WHERE this money has been spent ........ Deceit and mistrust abound 
Thankfully we made a non contest legal separation and she agreed not to come after my retirement but I am faced with the ugly mess 
of the debt hell that she created , most of it in my name or joint accounts ........ Marietal debt should be unlawful but sadly it looks like 
spouses have ZERO protection against this


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## joannacroc (Dec 17, 2014)

First of all, I'm so sorry this is happening to you. Something like this happened to me on a much smaller scale.

1. Have you separated ALL your accounts? If she is taking money out of your checking account a few months ago, I suspect not. Believe me, i get the impulse to want to think your spouse WON'T financially devastate you. Unfortunately when it comes to divorce all bets are off. Get her taken off ALL your accounts. Change all your passwords. If you have credit or debit cards logged on any sites or in your computer (for quick online checkout for example), erase them from the system. Do it NOW. Don't put it off. Every hour she has access, she can create more hell for you to clean up later.

2. Secure any valuables you have about the house that belong to you - your personal jewelry, anything you came into the marriage with that has value. Lock it all up. Don't remove it from the property if you haven't officially divided assets yet. The next thing she'll probably go after is valuables, if she can't get money from your credit card accounts.

2. Talk to a lawyer about the credit cards taken out in your name. Yes, all debt of one spouse may be considered debt of another BUT because they aren't in her name, and were taken out without your consent or knowledge, I wonder if they might be considered fraud? If you have some evidence to that effect, say, emails you sent to your wife, saying "hey WTF is this card in my name I never knew about" then bring anything you have with you to a lawyer. It may cost you some money, probably a heck of a lot less than the debt she racked up in your name.


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## joannacroc (Dec 17, 2014)

Forgot to ask, did you sign a prenup?


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## kristin2349 (Sep 12, 2013)

joannacroc said:


> First of all, I'm so sorry this is happening to you. Something like this happened to me on a much smaller scale.
> 
> 1. Have you separated ALL your accounts? If she is taking money out of your checking account a few months ago, I suspect not. Believe me, i get the impulse to want to think your spouse WON'T financially devastate you. Unfortunately when it comes to divorce all bets are off. Get her taken off ALL your accounts. Change all your passwords. If you have credit or debit cards logged on any sites or in your computer (for quick online checkout for example), erase them from the system. Do it NOW. Don't put it off. Every hour she has access, she can create more hell for you to clean up later.
> 
> ...




^^I agree^^

And if you have not yet contacted all three credit bureaus and filed a "fraud alert" to keep her from opening new accounts you need to do that now!


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