The effect of the Credit Report and Credit Score on Spousal Support Requirements

The effect of the Credit Report and Credit Score on Spousal Support Requirements is the topic of this blog post. 

Any attorney or mediator who is working with a client involved in divorce proceedings needs to understand the impact that the valuable information contained in a true and accurate credit report has on efficiently reaching the terms of an equitable settlement.  The lack of a true credit report with a credit score puts different but equal pressure on any settlement negotiations if both reports are not available and may change the ‘starting point’ parameters and expectations of the negotiations.

Because of the revelations and informative detail that it contains, the subscriber credit report with a credit score, is the most relied upon information source for all commercial lenders, employers and many insurance companies.   

By obtaining a subscriber credit report (with a credit score), the level of social and financial reliability of each party, and several crucial economic factors that are clearly relevant to the ultimate terms of the agreement can be more accurately confirmed as well as the true credit identity of each party.

If the lower wage earner has a good credit history and can most likely get a job, the requirement for transitional support in a financially realistic agreement, may be a lower support payment and/or a shorter period of time.

If one of the partners has been a stay-at-home spouse instead of a wage earner, it's quite likely that there are going to be higher cost needs in order for that parent to generate enough income to be self-supporting.

Consider the case of a stay-at-home spouse that has no job skills, no personal credit to use during the transition period, and no personal credit identity confirmed by the credit report. As a result of these factors, there is also no credit score. The credit score is very important for many kinds of jobs.

Almost every employment application includes a request that the applicant grant permission to obtain a credit report or check the applicant’s credit score. This is done so that the employer has a basis to evaluate the desirability of the applicant for potential employment.  If that background check comes back “no credit report” or “no credit score,” it's going to be very, very difficult to get anything other than a menial job, if that.  As with a stay-at-home spouse, the higher earner will typically have to pay out more during the transition period.

Organizing and decoding credit related documents can be outsourced to a specialist if your office staff isn’t trained/experienced in dealing with credit related foundational issues.

If you are an attorney or mediator with questions about credit reputation and how it can affect your clients, click here: www.creditdamageexpert.com     

Copyright 2014 Georg Finder, all rights reserved. Posted with the express permission of the author.

Georg Finder, an Orange County, CA, Credit Damage Evaluator (CDE), is an expert on credit reporting violations and credit damage measurement. He has more than 15 years experience evaluating credit reports and appearing for both plaintiff and defense.  Mr. Finder has authored numerous articles, including his upcoming book, Divorce credit smarter, not credit out-smarted. He is a. MCLE provider on credit report issues and credit reputation damage compensation. Learn more about Georg Finder and his services at www.creditdamageexpert.com  

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