Responsibility for credit card charges in my wifes name

The good news is very simply, you are not legally responsible for any debt on accounts that are not in your name. Your wife could have wracked up a hundred thousand pounds on a credit card and pay nothing back to the company, you will not be affected.

It's very simple, when someone takes out any form of credit, they sign a credit agreement. This makes the person solely responsible for the debts that they occur as part of that credit agreement and being married to that person does not suddenly make you financially responsible.

If you and your wife have separated, make sure that any credit card statements are sent on to her new address. If you do not have the new address, simply write 'Not At This Address' or 'Gone Away' - which is the technical post office term when a piece of mail is refused by the home owner - on the envelope and give it back to the postman, the post office, or simply pop it in the mailbox. It will then be returned to the company. It is important that you do this straight away as you do not want bailiffs turning up at your home to take your goods.

You can also write to a credit reference agency and financially disassociate yourself from your wife, whether you are together or not. This means that your finances remain your own and her charges, arrear or credit problems will not affect you when you are applying for credit.

Remember, credit problems at your address will be picked up by a credit scoring system, because you and your wife have the same surname.