Will Divorce Affect My Credit Score in Virginia?

 Posted on February 25, 2026 in Divorce

One question about divorce that many people don’t think to ask until it’s too late is whether it affects their credit score. If you’re going through a Virginia divorce in 2026, a Loudoun County divorce attorney can help you understand how the divorce process will affect all of your finances.

Does Getting Divorced Lower Your Credit Score?

Getting divorced does not directly lower your credit score. Divorce itself is not reported to credit bureaus and does not show up on your credit report. Marriage and marital status are not factors in your credit score at all.

However, what happens during and after a divorce can absolutely affect your credit. The legal process of ending a marriage involves dividing debts, closing or changing accounts, and often going from a two-income household to one. Any of those changes can cause damage to your credit score.

How Can Divorce Indirectly Hurt Your Credit?

Joint Accounts and Shared Debt

This is where most people run into trouble. Virginia courts require marital debts as well as assets to be divided under Virginia Code § 20-107.3. If you and your spouse have joint credit cards, a joint mortgage, or any other shared debt, both of you are still legally responsible for that debt in the eyes of lenders. A divorce decree can assign a debt to one spouse, but it does not remove the other spouse's name from the account.

Creditors are still able to hold you accountable for any debts until your name is removed. That means if your ex is ordered by the court to pay a joint credit card but stops making payments, your credit takes the hit too. It doesn’t matter if you weren’t the one making purchases on that card, either. If your name is on it, you are still on the hook.

Problems that can arise from joint debt include:

• Missed payments by your ex that appear on your credit report
• Accounts that are assigned to your spouse getting sent to collections 
• A drop in your available credit if joint accounts are closed
• Difficulty qualifying for a mortgage or other loans on your own after the divorce

Income Changes and New Financial Responsibilities

Many divorcing spouses have a major adjustment when moving from shared finances to managing everything solo. If you were financially dependent on your spouse, the shift can be significant. Things like taking on new credit without a solid income history or missing bills during a chaotic transition period can lower your score even if your ex is not involved.

What Can I Do to Protect My Credit During a Virginia Divorce?

Taking a few proactive steps can make a real difference.

• Pull your credit report early. Review all accounts and identify which ones are joint. You can get free reports at AnnualCreditReport.com.
• Open individual accounts in your own name as soon as possible. Establishing your own credit history is important if most of your accounts were joint.
• Ask lenders to remove your name from joint accounts where your spouse is keeping debt, or refinance joint loans into individual ones.
• Keep paying your share of joint bills during the divorce. Even if you believe your spouse should be responsible, a missed payment hurts you both.
• Document everything. Keep records of payments, account changes, and any agreements made during the divorce process.

Work with your attorney to include specific language in your divorce agreement about who is responsible for each debt and when refinancing must happen. Spouses can sometimes be unmotivated or unwilling to do things like refinance debts into just their name. If you get deadlines for this worked into your divorce decree, the court can enforce those deadlines in ways that you alone cannot.  

Call a Fairfax County Divorce Attorney Today

Protecting your credit during a divorce takes proactive planning. It’s also much easier when you have the right legal guidance from the start. At Nicole M. Burns, Attorney at Law, our lawyer has more than 15 years of legal experience helping Virginia clients through all aspects of divorce. Call 703-373-4761 today to schedule a consultation with our Loudoun County divorce lawyer and protect your interests.