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Divorce, separation and debt

Separating from a partner is stressful and often impacts your finances. It can reduce your household income or mean you need to spend more each month. You may struggle with bills and debts for a while. We are here for you.

If you have joint debts with your partner:

  • The debts have 'joint and several liability'
  • You need to repay the full amount yourself if your partner cannot pay

If you do not have joint debts:

  • You can get a ‘notice of disassociation’
  • This takes any financial link with your ex-partner off your credit file
  • Contact one of the credit reference agencies to remove this link

Asking for help can be hard.

Are debts causing you stress? Do you feel you never have the time?

Whatever the barrier, let’s deal with it together.

Find out more here.

Do you need help with debt after divorce or separation?

Money worries?

Find out how we can help you.

Get help now

Housing and income

If you are renting

Tell the landlord your agreement must be put in your name only.

If you have a mortgage

Get legal advice if you have a joint mortgage. This will help you decide what to do with the property.

Tell the local council if your partner has moved out and you are now the only adult in the property. You are entitled to a 25% discount on your council tax.

You can find more information on separation and mortgages here.

Benefits

Your benefits entitlement may change.

Use our free benefits calculator to find out:

  • What benefits you can claim
  • How much you may receive

Children and divorce

Separation is hard on the whole family.

You will need to arrange child maintenance. The government website can help.

  • A family based arrangement is an informal agreement between parents. It can be flexible
  • A court-ordered arrangement is a formal agreement. It is based on what the court calculates the child maintenance amount should be

A family based arrangement can be court certified.

Explore your options on on our child maintenance arrears page.

Divorce help and advice

Relate are a trusted network of licensed local counsellors offering support to individuals and families.

We can help you through this difficult time

Use our online debt advice tool for support.