Breakup Debt: Starting Over With The Jones Law Firm

According to the Pew Research Center analysis of the National Survey of Family Growth, of adults ages 18 to 44, 59% have lived with an unmarried partner at some point in their lives. Though cohabitation is common, it can, unfortunately, have an impact on your financial life should the relationship not pan out. Breaking up is hard to do, and at The Jones Law Firm, we know breaking up with debt can be even harder. If you find yourself struggling to recover from debt after a long-term relationship, here are some helpful tips to bring you through.

Give yourself time.

This isn’t just financial advice, it’s life advice. Following a long-term relationship, you don’t have just the practical changes to make like where you will live, but you also need to wade through the emotional aspects. Give yourself time to process it all, as making rash decisions can ultimately hurt you in the long-run.

Make the Tough Decisions.

When you’ve had time to process the breakup, you’ll need to start making those tough decisions. Unlike a divorce, where one person may receive alimony, when a couple has cohabitated, there isn’t financial support that is offered. You’ll need to consider your own financial situation to determine:

• Living Situation: Depending on where you lived (in a shared home, apartment, etc.) will determine a lot of things like who keeps the home, do you sell, or simply move out. If you owned the home with financial support for the mortgage from your partners’ income, it may be time to consider selling.
• Diving Assets: Sometimes it’s easy to divide up property, especially if you purchased it before the relationship began. But when you both put funds together to buy things for your shared home, it will be important to put a list together of items and the cost associated to divide it equally. If there are disagreements, it may be best to sell things and split the profit.
• Financial Accounts: Some cohabitating couples decide to keep financial accounts separate but it’s not uncommon to have joint bank accounts or shared credit cards. But when breakups happen, it’s best to close those accounts. But you’ll need to make sure you update your direct deposit and any bills that come directly from those accounts. The last thing you want to do is hurt your credit for missing payments.

Consider Your Financial State.

It’s not unheard of in long-term relationships that one person handles a majority of the finances be it balancing checkbooks, paying bills, and budgeting. However, once the relationship ends, you need to evaluate your financial state. Though it may not seem like it right now, your breakup is a financial restart. You’ll be able to establish the financial goals you have and consider the options you have to get there. However, if the breakup has left you in financial hardship, know that it doesn’t have to be one more thing on your plate--The Jones Law Firm can help.

Breakup Debt: Move Forward With The Jones Law Firm

Breaking up is hard to do. But moving forward financially can be even harder. If the end of a long-term relationship has left you in a place of financial disparity, know that the Ohio bankruptcy attorney Michael Ryan Jones can help you recover. With offices in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, The Jones Law Firm works with clients in and around Columbus and throughout central Ohio. Contact The Jones Law Firm today to speak about your specific situation and how we can help you.