5. Failing to Untangle Your Assets

When you're going through a divorce, you want to be financially independent as soon as possible, says New York divorce attorney Clement. Independence starts with establishing your own credit and opening up your own credit card before you get divorced. Why the rush? If the divorce starts to get ugly, your spouse could run up high balances and not make the payments just to hurt your credit score, warns Craig Watts, a spokesman for Fair Isaac. But if you have your own card, you'll at least have a healthy account to use as your anchor to build up your credit sore. (Click here to read about the other ramifications of keeping credit histories intertwined post-divorce).

Another mistake is to not pay off all of your marital obligations. "You want to get all of the debts paid off as part of the marital settlement ... even if it means liquidating an asset you didn't want to liquidate, such as the house," says Feigenbaum. Otherwise your spouse could fail to honor debts he or she agreed to take on during the divorce settlement, and you could end up with creditors after you for payment.

Read our story for more information on how to navigate a divorce as painlessly as possible.

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