As you know, I recently got married. My husband and I have had anything but “normal” for the first few months of marriage. We’ve moved, had a few job changes, moved again, and now we are finally ready to refocus on paying off our debt. Hubby doesn’t like to call and talk to anyone on the phone when it comes to finances, which got me wondering on how I can help. More importantly, I needed to find out if you can talk to your spouse’s collection agency.
Can You Talk to Your Spouse’s Collection Agency?
Many people would read that and say, “make him do it himself.” However, in our marriage, it is important we both support each other in the areas we aren’t super comfortable in. For me, he takes care of in-person meetings and anything we have to take care of face-to-face. I take care of bills, most of the finances, and anything we need to make calls about.
So, the answer is yes, you can talk to your spouse’s collection agency. As far as collections are concerned, a spouse is the same debtor. You may even receive calls about your husband or wife’s debt without being asked to.
No collection agency is allowed to disclose information to any other third party without consent. To get that, you will need to give verbal and/or written consent to the collection agency for the third party (friend, relative, etc.).
Some additional information may be needed to verify you have consent to talk to the collection agency as well. In some cases, they will ask you to set up a verbal password for the phone. Other times, they will ask you to verify the account holder’s Social Security number, phone number, account number, or other identifying information.
Managing Debts Together
Most of our debt is in joint accounts (except for my student loans). For the most part, I draw up the budget, and plans for paying off debt each month. My husband has a certain amount of “play” money that he uses for whatever he’d like, as do I.
When it comes to managing money together, that is what works best for us. I think it is different for every couple. Finding what works for you and your spouse is what is important.
How do you and your other half manage money together?