Review Your Insurance Coverage

Your name and your spouse’s name needs to be on the automobile insurance policy. The majority of Missouri automobile policies cover the “named insured and members of the household.” If there is a single name on the policy this means that the other person is not covered when separation occurs because that party is no longer a “member of the household”. If your name is the only name on the policy, you may still have some problems. Should the unnamed party finds themselves in an accident and are not insured since they are no longer a “member of household” your assets could be at risk to pay for damages the uninsured party is held liable for.   So it is suggested that you make sure their name is on the policy to protect them which in turn protects yourself.

Check your homeowner’s insurance for coverage for personal property like jewelry, furniture, appliances, clothing etc. because it won’t cover these items that were moved to a new address.

Check with your plan administrator to determine the named beneficiary on your insurance and/or employee benefit plan and determine what the policy is for changes.

Protect Your Good Credit

Charges made by your spouse are still your responsibility on joint credit accounts, whether you are aware of the charge or not. This is true before your divorce and after the divorce. If you want to limit your exposure in the future, you will need to notify each creditor that you will not pay for debts incurred by your spouse.

Request a copy of your credit report to give you the information necessary to determine what your credit situation is and make note of debts that you were not aware of, or forgot about that you are still jointly responsible to pay.

There are three credit bureaus in the United States; Equifax, Experian (formerly TRW), and Trans Union. You may request copies of your credit report from these companies by contacting them at the following:

Separate Credit History on Joint Accounts

If you have always obtained credit under your spouse’s name, you may not have sufficient credit history to obtain credit in just your name. The Equal Credit Opportunity Act gives you the right to have credit information reported in just your name from credit accounts used that were held jointly with your spouse. Unfortunately, just having the credit reported as your separate credit history doesn’t guarantee that you will be given credit in your own name since there are other factors that are considered in offering a person credit such as income.

Change of Address

Notify schools and day care centers that one of the parents has a new address and phone number.

A change of address form needs to be filed at your post office immediately. Notify your bank, employer, car loan, creditors and other institutions of your new mailing address.

Make Copies

If the other party will have control of the records after you separate, make copies before you separate. Makes copies of:

• Recent payroll information and check stubs;
• Checks or stubs showing income from investments, trusts, etc;
• Tax returns;
• Bank statements;
• Financial statements;
• Real estate deeds, and deeds of trust;
• Certificate of deposit, etc.;
• Stocks, bonds, statements from stockbrokers, etc.;
• Employee retirement plans, benefits, pensions, profit sharing, etc.;
• Titles for boats, motorcycles, cars, trailers, airplanes, etc;
• Statement of charge accounts, credit card accounts, mortgate payments; and
• Insurance policies.

Keep Heirlooms, Collector’s Items, Keepsakes, Photographs, etc Safe.

Take the appropriate steps to keep family heirlooms, collector’s items, keepsakes, photographs, etc safe. If it is likely that property may be damaged or hidden, take appropriate steps to protect these items.