Many Texas residents have credit card accounts. Some may have another person listed as an authorized user on their accounts. Some married couples do this. There are also many spouses who jointly own their credit card accounts, which, in the case of a divorce, is an entirely separate issue that could have a significant impact on property division proceedings.
If spouses jointly own a credit card account and have unpaid debt, they may both be liable for the debt when property division proceedings take place. Perhaps one spouse used the card and racked up a higher debt without the other spouse knowing. If they are joint owners on the account, they may both still be liable to the creditor, though the fact that one spouse secretly ran up the balance can be addressed during divorce proceedings.
When only one person owns a credit card account but lists another as an authorized user, the owner of the account is solely responsible for debt associated with the account. Texas is a community property state, which means spouses share equal portions of all marital property and debt in a divorce. These rules also apply to credit card debt, regardless of whose name is on the account.
In a Texas divorce, it does not matter whether a credit card account is jointly owned or owned by one spouse with the other listed as an authorized user. Property division guidelines generally provide that all debt incurred during marriage is to be equally shared between both spouses. If a concerned spouse has questions about property division issues, he or she may seek answers by requesting a meeting with an experienced family law attorney.
