Applicants

• You can add a joint owner to an existing credit card or you can establish a credit card as a joint account from the outset. Either way, you accept responsibility for repaying the debt once you sign the credit card application. As a credit card applicant, you ask a card provider to provide you with access to a sum of money and in return for that access, you agree to pay back the debt. On a joint account, the card issuer does not have to keep track of who conducted which transactions. If a balance appears on the account, you have a responsibility to repay it even if the other account owner incurred all of the charges.
  
  

Consequences

• Credit card accounts appear on your credit report and high balances can have a negative impact on your credit score. If you miss a credit card payment on a joint account, the missed payment hurts the credit scores of both cardholders. If you default on the debt, the card issuer can hire a debt collection agency and that firm can contact you by phone or mail and demand repayment of the debt. The original creditor or the debt agency could take you to court and sue you. The statute of limitations on credit card debt varies from state to state, but in most instances, card issuers can sue you several years after you default on a joint credit card debt.
  
  

Marriage

• During divorce proceedings, the court normally decides who should repay the outstanding debts. However, while a judge may instruct your ex-spouse to repay the debt, the debt continues to appear on your credit report until your spouse pays it off. If your ex-spouse refuses to do so, the unpaid debt hurts your credit score as much as it hurts your ex-spouse's. Depending on your state's laws, the card issuer may have the option to pursue you for the unpaid debt even after the divorce decree.
  
  

Authorized Signers

• Some credit card issuers allow you to add authorized signers to credit card accounts. An authorized signer receives an actual card and can use the card as freely as the actual account holder. Authorized signers do not technically own the account and therefore an authorized signer does not have share the liability for repaying the debt. However, community property laws in some states mean that a creditor can pursue a spouse for an unpaid debt even if the spouse only appears on the account as an authorized signer as opposed to a joint account holder. In fact, in such states, a creditor can pursue you for an unpaid debt that your spouse incurred even if you have no access to the credit card account. Always review your credit card agreement to determine whether you are a joint owner or an authorized signer.