How do we decide how to pay off our debts?

You have a few choices on allocating responsibility for your debts: You can agree to pay them off now - If you have cash or property that you could sell now, this is the simplest and safest route to go. This way, there will be no entanglements as you both begin your new lives. You can agree for one spouse to be responsible for all debts and for this spouse to get more assets to compensate them - This option allows each party to know exactly what they have when they leave the marriage. If you decide to be responsible for the debts, you may choose to liquidate some of your property to pay off the debt, or you may choose to keep your property and make other arrangements to pay off the debt now or later. If you agree for your spouse to be responsible for a debt that you shared, be careful because you could become vulnerable if your spouse fails to make payments on the joint debts. Credit card companies can still hold you responsible. You can agree to share all debts equally - Although this may seem like the simplest option, it could become the most complicated. Let's say you owe $1000 on a joint credit card and the account is accruing interest each month. Let's say that you pay $60 toward the debt, but you ex can only pay $20 this month. The balance accrues more interest than it would if you had both paid $60. Now you have to calculate the difference. What if this goes on for a few months or what if the other spouse also decides to make smaller payments? As you can see, the calculations can become mind boggling. Furthermore, by having common debts, you remain entangled to your ex-spouse after the divorce and this increases the risk that one of you will take advantage of the other. The most desirable end result is to finish with a list of debts for which you are each solely responsible without the further involvement of the other spouse.