By Lili Vasileff
Extracted from Experian.com
December 9, 2025
Your credit reports will list your ex-spouse on joint debts taken on in marriage for up to 10 years after the accounts are closed.
To get an ex’s name removed from your credit report, you’ll need to close those accounts and let them expire, or, have them assigned individually to yourself or to your ex.
Efforts Required: Getting your former spouse’s name off your credit report typically requires closing out shared accounts—and that, in turn, usually requires paying the accounts in full—and then waiting up to 10 years for the account’s payment history to expire from your credit reports.
One strategy for eliminating a shared credit card account with an outstanding balance is to have both former spouses open new credit card accounts that permit balance transfers, and to have each party transfer half of the balance on the shared account to their new card. The shared account can then be closed. A similar strategy could be applied to unsecured personal loans.
If one former spouse is an authorized user on the other’s account, the primary account holder can remove the ex’s name from the account, even if there’s an outstanding balance on the card. Calling the card issuer and ending the authorization prevents activity on the card (and the name of that card’s owner) from appearing on the de-authorized user’s credit reports.
Be sure you protect yourself financially and address all debts unambiguously!
