離婚期間,如何解決信用卡還債問題?

Who Is Responsible for the Credit Card Debt in a Divorce?

離婚時，信用卡債務誰負責？

You are contractually responsible for any debt that is in your name, even if someone else acquired it or contributed to it, such as by being an authorized user on your credit card. If you don't pay the debt, the creditor can sue you and even try to collect on your share of jointly owned assets.

你需要對個人名義下的任何債務負合同責任，即使是其他人欠下的債務（比如他/她是你所持信用卡的授權用戶。）如果你沒有還款，債權人有權對你進行起訴，甚至會設法收走你的共同擁有資產份額。

But the way the courts handle debt during a divorce depends on where you file. In common law states, which account for most of the country, courts will likely hold you responsible for credit card debt in your name and jointly liable for credit card debt in both names.

但在離婚過程中，法院對債務的處理方式取決於你提出離婚申請的地方。在施行普通法的州（美國的大部分州都施行普通法），法院可能會讓你承擔你名下的信用卡債務，同時對雙方名下的信用卡債務負連帶責任。

Nine states are community property states: Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin. In a community property state, any debt your or your former spouse "acquired after the date of marriage and before the date of separation is community property," says Kelly Chang Rickert, a Los Angeles-area divorce lawyer. So, both spouses are equally liable. However, debts in your name incurred prior to marriage or after separation or divorce are not considered community debts.

有9個州是共同財產州，包括：亞利桑那州、加利福尼亞州、愛達荷州、路易斯安那州、內華達州、新墨西哥州、德克薩斯州、華盛頓和威斯康星州。在共同財產州，你或者前夫/前妻"在結婚後、離婚前欠下的"債務都屬於"共同財產，"洛杉磯地區的離婚律師Kelly Chang Rickert說道。所以，夫妻雙方承擔同等責任。然而，結婚前或分居/離婚後個人欠下的債務不被視作共同債務。

No matter where you live, division of debts may be less than straightforward. In both community property and common law states, even when you are not contractually liable for your former spouse's credit card debt, a judge may order you to pay a portion of it, particularly if the debt was incurred for items necessary for the household.

無論你在哪生活，債務的劃分都沒有這般簡單。在施行共同財產和普通法的州，即使在你無需對前夫/前妻的信用卡債務負合同責任的情況下，法官也可以命令你還清一部分債務，尤其是用於購買家庭所需品而產生的債務。

The circumstances of every divorce are different, of course. Other factors that the judge is likely to consider include the length of separation and any agreement the divorcing spouses have come to about specific debts. A judge may distribute responsibility for the debts in a way that is different from your contractual obligations to pay, but the judge's order does not change your contracts with your creditors.

當然，具體情況視離婚狀況而定。法官可能考慮的其它因素包括：分居時間的長短、離婚夫妻雙方就特定債務達成的協議。法官分配債務責任的方式可能與你合同義務所規定的方式不同，但法官的命令並不會改變你與債權人簽訂的合同。