While money problems alone are not enough to lead to divorce, financial issues tend to take a starring role in many divorces. The stark light of the required financial disclosures statements can bring an air of disbelief, confusion, and anger, particularly if you live in one of those states where you'll be responsible for some of that debt. In fact, the way your state deals with credit card debt will have a big influence on your financial standing after a divorce, so read to learn more.

The two ways of looking at debts (and property)

The U.S. is comprised of a mishmash of divorce laws, but you can see two major takes on marital debt. Quite a few states use equitable distribution to deal with debt, and fewer still use the community property model. Read below for a basic overview of each type.

Equitable distribution

As you might have gleaned from the name, this way of looking at marital debt attempts to make things fair by assigning debt to the person who should be responsible for it, the account owner. With joint credit card use being rare, this issue can be a simple matter to resolve. If both names are on the account, however, the balance may not tell the entire story.

If matters cannot be resolved by the parties themselves, a forensic accountant must do a deep-dive into the account and tease out who charged what. This action can cost a lot of money and take a lot of time, so some thought should be given to splitting it down the middle regardless of who charged up all those lattes or vacations.

Community property

This type of divorce law model has fallen out of favor, but 10 states persist in making it all about a 50/50 split. The word community, in this instance, means the couple and they are said to own one-half of the debts of the marriage. This means that no matter who opened the account, whose name is on the credit card, who used the credit card or who the use benefited it all belongs to both parties equally. This can present an enormous surprise and sense of dismay for the party that kept their spending in check and used credit wisely and a boon for the one who bought everything in sight.

Speak to your divorce attorney to learn more about how credit card debt is handled in your state. For more information, check out a website like http://gomezmaylaw.com/.