I need some advice for credit card debt.

I first want to take the time to thank this Forum. I was looking into signing with American Debt Foundation, Inc until I ran across this forum. Thank you all for helping me not make a huge mistake.

I now have a Cerdit Card bill just shy of $12,000. I am still current on the payments. This was a surprise to me as I knew of only $8,000 on the card. My wife and I have been getting ready to divorce and our goal was to pay off the card before we do. She was also in control of the finances. Well, needless to say that plan went out the window when my credit card purchase as denied (The card was maxed out). She managed to rack up another $4,000 just this month (thus the $12,000).

I will now be stuck with this bill. She will be taking the kids, I will be paying child suport and losing money starting January, since I can no longer claim the kids next year. On top of that I am curently paying the late and or back owed money for other bills, she decided not to pay them (She spent the money set aside for those).

Is it possible to make a deal with the Credit Card company to lower or put a halt to the intrest and form a monthly plan to pay them back? Due I have to be behind in payments before I ask?

Any advice on the credit card company would be very apreciated.

As for taking any advice or actions against my soon to be ex-wife, I perfer not to. She will have custody of my kids and I do not want to rile her up or put her in a financial bind. Doing so would only hurt the kids in the long run.

Sounds like you are a very good man going through something very serious. First, Welcome to the site. Many of people have come there looking for help with a great many situations like myself, and have found the help they need to get through their and eliminate their debt. First, I would reccomend clicking on the "free consultation" button to the right and up a little and you can talk to someone that will be able to serve you better. Rexlax, it will be ok now.

All the Best

Richard...there are probably a couple of things you can do. You can call the credit card comapny and explain the situation. They sometimes have a plan for hardship cases...and they might be able to reduce your payments and possibly some of your fee's. And as Luke said, as a registered member you can take advantage of the free counsultation, they will be able to explain other option such as debt management or consolidation...they also will connect you with someone in your area to help you.

I know how difficult a time this can be...take it calmly and try to make good decisions and you will be fine.

Richard -

welcome to the site! We're glad you're here.

You've had a long hard road, and it's going to be a bit longer before you can see the light at the end of the tunnel....but it's not an impossible journey - just a long one. I've been where you are, and it can take a long time to get your ex-spouse's name off of everything and get things set back to rights.

First and foremost, I would recommend pulling your credit reports from all three reporting bureaus. Go to annualcreditreport.com. This is the only FREE way to get your report, once per year, or any time you've been denied credit. There are no fees involved or programs to sign up for like the ones you see advertised on TV.

The first thing you should do with your credit reports is to enter a personal consumer statement on each report - you can do this online once you obtain the reports. The statement should state that you are going through a divorce, and that any new debts incurred in your ex-wife's name should not be reflected on your report as joint debts.

Your next step, once your divorce is final, is to remove your ex-wife's name from your credit reports, and to be sure her Social Security Number is removed as well. (You may be able to take this step before the divorce is final, I'm not sure - but check with your divorce attorney to be certain.)

Your third and final step with your credit reports is to go through them with a fine-tooth comb and dispute any debt listed on there that is inaccurate. Any debt listed in your wife's name alone should not be on your report. There are also options on the reports (online) to indicate that the debts on your report are involved in your divorce (if you and your ex-wife will be splitting any of the debts at all).

I'm very sorry to hear that you're going through this, Richard. I know how painful it is, and how difficult it's going to be before it's all over. Take care of yourself, keep yourself healthy and enjoy whatever time you get with your children.

I completely respect your decision not to pursue action against your ex-wife...I was in the same position, where I could have sued my ex for spousal support, adultery, etc., based on the state laws where I lived at that time. I didn't, though it has cost me dearly (financially). I knew if I did, it would end up in a long, drawn-out court battle, which I had no desire to drag the kids through. The way I see it, my kids will see who has always taken the high road in this situation, who has always been there for them to provide a stable home life, love and the day-to-day living that they needed. When they look back at their childhood in the future, I want that person to be me.

Please keep us posted on your progress!

Welcome to the Community Richard I would do as SueBee said concerning your credit reports.

I have had credit card companies work with me and drop and/or lower the interest until I got it paid off. I simply called them, said I wanted to pay them off, but the interest and fees were keeping me from doing that, and did they have any way to drop my interest. I will tell you, that one cc company I called every day for 5 days, and finally got them to do it! They do have hardship programs, and if you tell them you are going through a divorce and your wife left you with these bills, you are trying to do what is right, maybe they will work with you.

Another thing, is it in your divorce that she,only, will be able to claim the kids on the income tax? Some divorces have an every other year thing that allows each parent to do this. In my divorce, we did this for a few years, only because he took the debt to pay off.

Hang in there- there is hope! When I came to this site I thought i would never see anything good-A year and a half later, I am almost debt free- am credit card and pdl free, and only one CA to deal with!

We are here to support, guide, and answer any questions you may have!..KAren

There are literally hundreds of credit repair websites and a lot of them try to guarantee success but the reality is most of them are just a waste of money. They use methods of repairing your credit you can do yourself if you simply google credit repair templates. Their process is very lengthy and requires months and even years to get a lot of things removed and sometimes the bad marks can come back as some companies are very persistent, especially if you still owe them money.

The only guaranteed method to repair your credit is to pay off the old bills and get your derogatory balances to $0. "Well that isn't very helpful" is probably what you are saying. Since none of us just have cash laying around to do that there are other things you can do that are guaranteed to increase your FICO score practically overnight and start rebuilding your credit.

It's actually very simple. Sign up for Millennium Secured Credit Card and send them $300. Buy $90 worth of groceries on it and make the payments. Keep the balance under $90.

Once all of these companies report to the credit bureaus you are going to see an immediate increase in your FICO score. Guaranteed. Then you can work on getting the bad marks paid off and removed. It's much easier to get them permanently deleted if you don't owe them any more money.