I never had debt until I got married. My now ex husband brought a lot of stress and debt in to my life. I dealt with it all he walked away. He lost our business, nearly my home (twice), our cars and pets it went on and on. It is important to talk to all your creditors. I found in the early days there are a lot of debt companies who charge for using their services. I phoned all the creditors including the ex's and arranged payment plans. Instead of being hit will big bills I pay all my utilities every week at the local shop. I had debt with all of them, now my accounts are in credit. If you have mortgage debt it takes a while to get to court before you can be repossessed, even then its at the judges discretion. This happened to a friend of mine who told the mortgage company they would have to wait for the arrears as she was making partial payments.If you have credit card debt the companies are there to set up repayment plans with you. It all can be managed. My ex left me with thousands of pounds worth of debt and I mean thousands. I have spent years paying it back and now only owe a couple of thousand. Not bad from a single mum of two.I also had all the legal aid bills to pay from my divorce. It can be done with the right support.