dumbstruck <dumbstruc[at]gmail.com> wrote:

- quote -

If you are a *couple* that wants to opt out of using credit, then
cutting up all your credit cards should do the trick, no? I understand
impulse control problems when you still have a credit card, but ggoing
to the trouble of signing up for a new card and then putting money on
it, isn't an impulse control problem, it's a rejection of the paradigm.

Why do you need some kind of absolute firewall? Is your spouse not
really on board with this program? I think the deal is that you need to
work this out with them.

Personally, I'd prefer if there were a legal way for married couples to
be truly separate financially, but right now, IIRC, there isn't (You
can maintain separate finances, but if one of you runs up bills they
can't pay, the spouse is legally liable). Basically, If you can't get
to a point where you trust yourself or your spouse to be at least
marginally financially responsible, there's some question about whether
you should stay married.

Rabid financial irresponsibility on the part of one spouse is basically
a form of control/stealing, and if you agree to cut up credit cards, and
then go out and apply for more, that's a broken promise, and hiding it
is lying. There's only so much of that I could do or deal with before
questioning whether we really had a marriage in spirit (as opposed to
some less holy arrangement).

What is the impetus for this question? My gut feeling is that
communication and possibly counseling are what is needed here, rather
than some legal rube-goldberg setup.



Michael

--
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired,
signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not
fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. -- Dwight Eisenhower
"In Christ there is no killing" -- St. Patrick

In article <1109536832.404244.107200[at]g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> ,
dumbstruck <dumbstruc[at]gmail.com> wrote:
- quote -

It depends where you live. In community property states, the answer is
"no." In other states, the answer is probabably state-specific.

- Bob

dumbstruck wrote:
- quote -


I think you're pretty much stuck just cancelling all the joint credit
accounts, and taking out a life insurance policy on your spouse to pay
off her maxed-out credit cards when she dies. (That's what I did,
anyway.) Paying off a spouse's credit cards and cancelling them doesn't
work because they will just apply for a dozen new cards and hide the
statements so you won't see how much money they spent on Home Shopping
Network.

Good luck, and best regards,
Bob


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Is there any way to reduce, minimize, or eliminate the ability of a
spouse to create needless debts that the other will have to pay, esp
credit card?

I don't mean by persuasion, but US legal steps at any stage of
relationship from prenup on. Apparently you can firewall one another's
new debts at the legal seperation stage, but is there any earlier
measure?

Not even assuming any friction or disputes, just a couple that want to
opt out of the crazy world of cheap credit as future source of
temptation/friction, and don't anticipate any need for credit AT ALL
including mortgages or even car rentals (they don't take debit cards do
they?). I assure any doubter that zero credit IS an acceptable
solution, and would just like to know the how-to mechanics as well as
any less drastic approaches.

The most elegant solution might be to put a fraud alert on both
spouses, with a third party contact having to give approval, who never
does. That way spouses could perhaps maintain existing credit cards,
hopefully without zooming up the max credit balance beyond a modest
level. Or take the next step to somehow zero or minimize credit rating
of each spouse if needed - can this be done without harming an actual
creditor? Thanks for any advice...