Joint debts and your partner's debts

A joint debt is a credit agreement you sign with another person, such as your partner: a mortgage, a loan or a joint bank account are the common examples¹. The defining feature is not who spends the money but whose names are on the agreement. If a debt is in joint names, you are both responsible for the whole amount owed, not just your own share or "half", and if one of you cannot pay, the other is liable for the full balance¹.

This rule is called joint and several liability, and it survives separation, divorce and, in most cases, the death of the other person². It also applies in situations people often do not think of as borrowing at all: a joint tenancy, a shared council tax bill with a spouse or partner, and a joint overdraft all create the same exposure³. Conversely, being married or in a civil partnership does not make you responsible for debts your partner took out in their own name⁵.

What counts as a joint debt

A joint debt is any financial contract you share with someone else, like your partner¹. In practice that means a credit agreement signed by two or more people: a joint mortgage, a joint loan, or a joint bank account¹. Sharing a rental agreement or a mortgage also means you have joint debts, and action to collect arrears can be taken against both of you³.

Some joint liabilities do not look like borrowing. If you are liable for a council tax bill and live with your spouse or partner, you are usually both responsible for paying all of it, under the same joint and several rule⁴. In Scotland, married couples, partners and civil partners living together are likewise both responsible for the whole bill¹⁰. A joint bank account with an overdraft is a joint debt too: everyone named on the account is equally responsible, and the bank could ask you to repay overdraft borrowing run up by the other holder⁷.

Credit cards are the main thing that cannot be joint. There is a primary cardholder who is responsible for repaying all debts, and any additional cardholder has no legal responsibility to pay towards the debt, even though they get their own card and share the credit limit¹. So a couple can share a card in everyday life while only one of them legally owes the money.

Joint debts taken out by unmarried couples work in exactly the same way as those of married couples⁵. What matters is the signature on the agreement, not the relationship.

Joint and several liability: each of you owes the full amount

When you sign a joint credit agreement, you agree to pay back the whole debt if the other person does not pay¹¹. This is joint and several liability: you are both liable for the full debt if one of you cannot pay, regardless of who spent the money or what was bought¹. If only one of you signed a credit agreement, by contrast, the debt does not belong to the other person at all¹².

The practical consequence is that a creditor does not have to chase you for "your half". If your co-borrower cannot or will not pay, the whole debt becomes yours to deal with, and any action to collect arrears on a joint debt affects both of you². The people you owe cannot force your ex-partner to pay their share of a joint debt, and neither can the bank: if your ex stops contributing, the creditor will look to whoever it can reach, which may be you alone².

Joint and several liability also reaches beyond couples. In a business partnership, all partners are liable for the partnership's debts, and creditors can take all partners to court for the total debt¹³. Partners and directors who give personal guarantees are usually liable to pay back the total amount owed even if other people have given guarantees too, under the same principle¹⁴. Council tax works the same way for couples, as set out above⁴.

If you are struggling with a joint debt, it can still be included in a debt solution such as a debt management plan, but the creditor will continue to pursue the other joint owner for full repayment¹⁵. Similarly, when deciding whether your debts are under £5,000 for an administration order, you count a joint debt in full, not just your share of it¹⁶.

You are not liable for debts only in your partner's name

You are not liable for debts that are only in your partner's name⁵. Marriage or a civil partnership does not make you responsible for your partner's debts: debts in their name stay in their name only¹¹. Nor are you responsible for credit agreements or financial obligations your partner took out before you married⁵.

This holds true after separation as well. For things like loans or credit card bills, you will only be liable for joint debts or those that are in your name¹⁷. Getting divorced does not change who is responsible for credit debts such as credit cards, loans or overdrafts: if the debt is in one person's sole name, that person remains liable⁶. If a debt is in your husband's or wife's sole name only, you are not liable to pay it⁶.

The credit card point deserves emphasis because couples often assume otherwise. If only one of you signed the credit card agreement, the debt does not belong to the other person, even if they are an additional cardholder and even if they did the spending¹². The primary cardholder is responsible for repaying all debts on the card, including any run up by an authorised additional cardholder¹.

The boundary line is therefore simple to state: check the names on the agreement. Joint loans, a joint mortgage, a joint bank account and council tax debt on a shared property are yours to deal with together; everything in your partner's sole name is theirs alone⁵.

How a joint debt affects your credit score

Taking out a joint mortgage or opening a joint account creates a financial link with the other person⁷. Once that link exists, your credit files become connected or "associated", and lenders can look at the other person's credit history even when you apply for credit in your name only¹¹. If you have a joint debt with an ex-partner, how you each manage your debts can affect the other's applications for credit, and vice versa¹⁸.

The link cuts both ways. Having a good payment history towards joint debts helps both people named on the account and can make it easier to get credit in future¹¹. But opening a joint account with someone whose credit history is poor could damage your credit score, and you could find yourself responsible if they run up debt on the account¹⁹. MoneyHelper's advice is to open a joint account only with someone you trust¹⁹.

Missed payments are the sharpest edge. A missed payment on a joint debt is marked on both credit files, regardless of who missed the payment or whose fault it was⁷. On a joint mortgage, a missed payment shows up on both credit reports even if one of you paid your share⁸. After a separation, this continues: if a payment is missed it will be recorded on your credit file as well as your ex-partner's, even if your ex agreed to repay the debt⁶.

The link does not disappear when the relationship does. A financial association arises from joint credit applications, joint bank accounts or joint financial products, and it continues after divorce or separation⁶. The next section covers how to remove it.

Getting your name off a joint debt

There is no unilateral way to take your name off a joint debt while it still exists. If you still have a joint debt, there is no way to remove the financial link until the account is closed, the debt is repaid in full, or your ex-partner's name is removed from it⁶. For a joint loan, the link goes only once the loan is repaid in full; for a joint bank account, removal is likely only if there is no overdraft to repay⁶.

For a joint mortgage, the route is usually a transfer of equity, where the lender agrees to remove one name and assess the remaining borrower on their own. The person whose name is taken off the mortgage should then be able to borrow more to buy themselves a home than if their name was still on their ex-partner's mortgage¹⁸. MoneyHelper suggests anyone considering this, and anyone considering being a guarantor for it, gets independent legal advice and talks to a mortgage adviser first¹⁸.

For a joint bank account, two practical steps exist. If you simply want to close the account, closing it will not remove the link to the other person from your credit file, but you can ask the credit reference agencies for a "notice of disassociation" if you have no other financial connection with them⁷. If the relationship has broken down and you cannot agree how to split the money, you can ask the bank to register a dispute and "cancel the mandate", which freezes the account until everyone named agrees what to do⁷.

One further point on old joint debts: if a debt becomes statute-barred, the time limit applies separately to each person. For debts in joint names, a written acknowledgement of the debt only binds the person who signed the letter, and a payment towards the debt can be made by either person on the account⁹.

Joint debts after separation or divorce

Separation does not divide a joint debt. If any debts are in joint names, you both continue to be jointly and severally liable for the whole amount⁶. A private agreement that your ex will pay the joint loan changes nothing as far as the creditor is concerned: they can still pursue either of you for the full balance, and they cannot be forced to chase your ex for their share².

Council tax has its own rule here. If you lived in a property with your ex-partner, you are jointly and severally liable for council tax debt built up while you were living together, even if only one name was on the bill⁶. See council tax arrears for how that debt is treated and prioritised.

In Scotland, the Debt Arrangement Scheme recognises separation directly: regulations extend the circumstances in which a payment break is available to cover cohabitees separating on a joint debt payment programme²⁰. If you are in a Scottish debt arrangement scheme, that is worth raising with your adviser.

For the family home, the decisions are bigger than the debt itself. MoneyHelper's guidance on dividing the family home and mortgage during divorce covers the options, and StepChange's advice if you have a joint mortgage is to get legal advice²¹. The choices typically involve one person taking over the mortgage, the home being sold, or both names staying on the mortgage for a period, and each has different consequences for the debt you remain liable for.

If your ex cannot pay their share of a joint debt, you need to repay the full amount yourself, or the arrears and their credit file consequences land on you²¹. Free debt advice can help you work out what you can afford and negotiate with creditors.

When one of you dies or goes bankrupt

Death. Joint debts do not go away when one of the people named on the agreement dies. Instead, the other person becomes responsible for repaying the full amount of the debt². The surviving person is liable for joint debts, and where debts were in joint names or had a guarantor, the surviving person or guarantor becomes solely liable for them²². A loan you acted as a guarantor on for your loved one also falls to you as the surviving guarantor²³.

Debts that were in the deceased person's sole name are different. When a person dies, their debts are paid off from their estate, and you are only responsible for their debts if you had a joint loan or agreement with them or provided a loan guarantee²⁴. You are not automatically responsible for a husband's, wife's or civil partner's debts²⁵. Repayment of sole-name credit debts must wait until other estate matters have been settled²⁴. If you lived with the person who died, you may still be liable for debts relating to the property, such as council tax or water bills²³.

Where a home was owned as tenants in common, the deceased's share becomes part of their estate and goes to whoever is named in their will, but unpaid debts must be paid first from that share²⁴. Joint life insurance can be relevant here: it pays out on the death of the first policyholder during the term, and then the policy ends, so it does not cover the surviving partner²⁶.

Bankruptcy and other insolvency solutions. Joint debts are not written off by one person's bankruptcy unless the other person also goes bankrupt. The debt becomes the other person's alone, and they are responsible for paying the remaining amount in full²⁷. The same principle applies to formal insolvency solutions generally: if you enter bankruptcy, a debt relief order or an individual voluntary arrangement, your liability for a joint debt is included in the arrangement, but the other joint holder remains fully liable²⁸. Official guidance on debt relief orders confirms that a creditor can still recover a debt from a guarantor or joint debt holder, who will be liable for the whole amount owed if you cannot pay it back²⁹.

In Scotland, the position under write-off and sequestration rules is similar: a creditor might agree to write off one person's liability for a joint debt but still pursue the other person for the whole amount³⁰.

Guarantor loans: what the guarantor signs up to

A guarantor loan is a loan that a lender will only provide if another person, for example a friend or relative, guarantees to make the payments if the borrower does not³¹. The guarantor is someone who "guarantees" a loan for someone else: they agree to pay back the loan if the other person cannot³². Guarantor loans are a type of consumer credit usually marketed at people who have bad credit or were turned down by other lenders, and the guarantor is usually a friend or family member³³.

The guarantor's commitment is serious. The creditor agrees to lend the money based on the guarantor being able to repay the loan in full, and the guarantor must prove they can afford the repayments based on their income, savings and any assets³³. The person guaranteeing the loan is jointly responsible for dealing with the debt: one person has to pay if the other cannot³³. In some cases the loan is secured against the guarantor's property, and in some cases the loan money is transferred to the guarantor first, who then passes it on to the borrower³³.

Guarantors have rights as well as obligations. A guarantor is a second person who signs a credit agreement to say they will repay the money if you do not, and they have the same rights as you under the credit agreement, including the right to the same information before and after signing³⁴. The FCA's debt collection rules extend their references to borrowers and customers to include guarantors who have provided a guarantee or indemnity in relation to a regulated credit agreement, which means guarantors are treated as customers for the purposes of those protections³⁵.

Guarantor mortgages work on the same idea at a larger scale. This is a mortgage where a close relative, or even an ex-partner, agrees to guarantee the mortgage payments if you cannot, which means taking on the responsibility for paying the whole mortgage if the borrower cannot¹⁸. It usually involves the guarantor offering their home or savings as security against the mortgage and agreeing to cover the payments if you default³⁶. The big downside is that the guarantor could be liable for any shortfall if the property has to be repossessed and sold for less than the amount remaining on the mortgage: in the worst case, your family member could stand to lose their home³⁶.

Guarantors also appear outside lending. If you agree to be a guarantor for a private renter, you agree to pay their rent if they stop paying, and possibly to pay for any damage they cause³⁷. In a joint tenancy, guarantor agreements sometimes say you can be asked to pay if any of the joint tenants do not pay their rent, not just the tenant you guaranteed³⁷.

Note that to be a guarantor you usually must not be financially connected to the borrower, such as a spouse or partner²⁸. Larger guarantor loans take several years to pay back, and the interest could mean the borrower pays back more than they borrow³³.

What happens if the borrower stops paying a guarantor loan

If the borrower fails to make payments, the guarantor is legally liable to pay back the loan for them³². This means that if you miss payments, your guarantor will need to pay instead³⁰. Depending on the terms of the agreement, the guarantor may become liable to pay back everything that you owe, not just the payments you have missed³⁰.

What happens next depends on what the borrower does about the debt:

• Informal arrangements, such as a debt management plan: you remain liable for the debt, and the loan company can continue to take action against you if the guarantor does not maintain the original repayments²⁸.
• Formal arrangements, such as bankruptcy, a debt relief order or an IVA: the loan company will default your loan and contact the guarantor to maintain the original repayments. Your liability for the debt is included in your formal arrangement, but the guarantor is still fully liable²⁸.
• Write-off requests: if your agreement has a guarantor linked to it, the guarantor will usually be asked to repay the debt if you make a write-off request³⁰.

The risk to the guarantor's home is real where the loan is secured: their house could be at risk of repossession³³. And if the borrower dies, the guarantor becomes solely liable for the debt²².

There is one important protection. The Financial Ombudsman Service can consider complaints from guarantors, and where it concludes a guarantor should not have been accepted as one, it will usually say the guarantor should be released from the guarantee, that any payments they have already made should be refunded with interest, and that information added to their credit file should be removed³¹.

Pressure to sign, and how to challenge a loan or guarantee

Not every signature is freely given. You may need to challenge responsibility for a loan if you were put under pressure by another person, for example a partner, to sign, or if you were misled by a lender¹². This can be a feature of economic abuse, where one person controls another's borrowing or coerces them into guarantees. The site's guide to debt and economic abuse covers coerced borrowing and where to get help.

If you were pressured or misled, the routes to challenge the agreement include complaining to the lender and then to the Financial Ombudsman, which has power to release a guarantor from a guarantee, order refunds of payments with interest, and have credit file entries removed where the guarantor should not have been accepted³¹. Free debt advice charities can also help you challenge responsibility for a debt.

Before anyone signs as a guarantor, MoneyHelper's guidance is to get independent legal advice and talk to a mortgage adviser before agreeing to it, particularly for a guarantor mortgage where the guarantor's own home may be at stake¹⁸.

Where to get free help

Joint debt problems are common, and free, impartial help is available. Free debt advice charities such as StepChange, National Debtline and Advice NI can assess a joint debt, explain who is liable for what, and help you set up a solution such as a payment arrangement or a debt management plan. In Scotland, the Debt Arrangement Scheme offers a formal route that includes payment breaks covering separating cohabitees²⁰.

If a relationship breakdown is involved, MoneyHelper has specific guidance on dividing the family home and mortgage during divorce or dissolution¹⁸, and StepChange advises getting legal advice if you have a joint mortgage²¹. If you are being chased for a debt you do not think you owe, the guide to debts not in your name and the statute-barred debt rules explain your rights, and the Financial Ombudsman can adjudicate complaints about lenders and guarantor loans³¹.