Section 88(1): “A consumer who has filed an application in terms of Section 86(1) for debt review must not incur any further charges under a credit facility or enter into any further credit agreement”.
This is correct – both parties in the relationship will need to submit paperwork to determine family income and the level of debt of the household.
Married out of COP: generally, a single application will need to be written for the over-indebted party, who is applying for debt review. But a joint application for debt review can be submitted, if both parties agree that they need it. In this case, both parties will be placed under debt review and then their statuses updated at the credit bureaus.
Married Antenuptual Agreement: only the over-indebted spouse needs to apply for debt review, although a joint application could be applied for if both parties need and agree to this.
Traditional Marriage: the application for debt review will be the same as a couple married in COP.
Living together: a joint application process can be entered into by both parties if warranted
If you do not apply in the first place, this could make your situation much worse. If you skip or miss your monthly instalments on any of your Credit Agreements, these will be listed as non-payments. This must be avoided at all costs!
Once you have paid all of your debts off, there will be no record kept on your file at the Credit Bureaus. So, with this in mind, if you would like to be able to apply for credit in the future when you are back on your feet again, Debt Review is the way to go, rather than trying to handle your Credit Providers all on your own, which clearly is not working for you right now.