What Happens To Credit Cards That Are Joint With A Spouse

If you go into bankruptcy or do a Proposal under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, the creditor cannot attempt to collect from you, but they will attempt to collect the amount from the joint debtor, who in your case is your spouse. So if you're absolutely sure that your spouse is joint on the card, he or she will be responsible for the debt. However, with credit cards, it's sometimes difficult to tell whether or not a supplementary card holder is actually responsible for the debt. In some cases, they are not responsible for any of it; or they may be responsible for only what they charge on their card; or they may be responsible for the entire balance. If you're not sure, contact your credit card issuer or, if you still have a copy of the credit card application and credit card agreement, you can have a look at those (although they aren't always the easiest things to read). In certain circumstances, it may be possible to protect a joint card holder by doing a Proposal instead of a bankruptcy, but the situations in which this will work are fairly limited. The Proposal would have to give the creditor a reasonable enough return that they would choose that over the option of going after the joint card holder. If your spouse has no assets or income, he or she may also be "creditor proof," meaning that there is nothing for the creditor go go after, in which case the creditor may eventually just write off the debt. Judy Scott - Vancouver - Port Moody - Abbotsford 604-949-2100 judy.scott@mnp.ca