When you planned your wedding, you may have gone over budget a little. Okay, maybe you went over your budget by a lot. In any case, you now have a significant amount of debt related to your wedding that you can’t seem to pay off.
Money issues are often cited as a cause for divorce, and lingering wedding debt appears to be a source of arguments and even divorce as well. If you and your spouse argued about the cost of the wedding even before it happened, then you more than likely continued to argue afterward. Now, the word divorce has come up during one of your arguments.
Looking back at the wedding
When you look back on your wedding with the amount of debt you accumulated because of it, are you satisfied? Was it everything you hoped it would be? When you look at the bills you can’t pay, you may no longer think so. You aren’t alone. Only three aspects of the wedding made the top 3 of one survey, and the dress wasn’t one of them. Those items were the honeymoon, the venue, and the food and drinks.
If you resent carrying wedding debt to the point where it’s causing incredible tension in your new marriage, you are in good company. Just over three-quarters of people in your position also experience marital discord because of it.
Looking for debt relief options
You may realize that you need to take action as quickly as possible in order to save your marriage. Tightening the budget may have worked temporarily, if at all. You talked to your creditors to see whether they would work with you, but maybe only a couple would, if any. If you are far enough behind, you could also receive calls and other communications from your creditors on a far-too-frequent basis. This only adds to an already stressful situation.
You could consider filing for bankruptcy. It could give you the fresh financial start to your life together that you didn’t get because of the wedding. It could also ease the tension between you and your spouse because you may discharge a significant portion of your debt and finally have some breathing room when it comes to your finances. In order to know whether this debt relief option serves your best interests, you could schedule a consultation with an experienced bankruptcy attorney.