SERIES: Recently divorced or widowed. Five step series to protecting your finances.

 Part 5

Losing a spouse through death or divorce can be an emotionally devastating experience. And yet it’s typically a time when many financial matters require your immediate attention.

To help avoid making emotionally driven – and potentially harmful – financial decisions, it’s important to be prepared should you find yourself suddenly single. Here are five important action steps that can help protect your personal finances.

5. Review your credit.

When you’re suddenly single, your credit can be among your most valuable assets, so protect it wisely. After divorce or the death of a spouse, you may want to request a copy of your credit report to take inventory of all the accounts that are open in your name and/or jointly with your former spouse.

If you’re divorced, you’ll want to close joint credit accounts and shift to single accounts, so that an ex-spouse’s credit score won’t affect your credit rating. If you’re widowed, contact both Canadian credit bureaus (Equifax Canada and TransUnion Canada) to let them know that your spouse has passed away, in order to keep others from falsely establishing credit in his or her name.