Credit and Marriage

Establishing and maintaining good credit can be a difficult task for anyone. If you have worked hard to establish a good credit score you will want to keep your good credit rating when the time comes that you get married. So how exactly does marriage affect your credit? This article will discuss various aspects of credit and marriage.

When you get married or even before you get married, you should discuss your financial records with your spouse. Share your savings, investments, salaries and any problems you may have with your credit. If one of you has a poor credit record it will affect the other if you apply for joint credit accounts.

It is essential that when you and your spouse do open joint credit accounts that you make all payments on time. The new joint accounts will appear on both your credit reports. You will both be responsible for the debt incurred on these joint accounts and for all the terms and conditions of these accounts.

As a couple you can work towards keeping a clean credit record. Make sure to pay your credit account bills on time and in full. Be sure to fully understand the terms of all accounts. This includes understanding terms such as interest rates, credit limits and late payment fees.

If you do consolidate your accounts and open joint credit accounts as a couple, you may each want to maintain at least one individual account. This account will be useful in the event of a financial emergency. It is also a good idea to keep one individual account in case you ever need to reestablish your own credit history.

Even when you are married you could maintain entirely separate credit. Although, it is not highly likely you will do so. Most couples will end up purchasing a home or in many cases even an automobile together. They will often apply for the loan together using both parties credit history and incomes to apply for the loan and placing both names on the title of the vehicle or deed of the house.

Any individual accounts that you had before you were married will remain in your name only. These accounts will only appear on your credit report. Even after you are married all your credit will stay separate unless or until you sign up for joint credit accounts. Your credit would also no longer stay entirely separate if you would add your spouse to a credit account that was entirely in your name. For example, if you added them to your credit card.

It is difficult to imagine maintaining separate credit from your spouse. Marriage is a partnership. It also seems like it would be beneficial to have joint accounts with your spouse. This would mean that not all of the burden of debt would be on one person’s shoulders. Also when you go to apply for a loan jointly, a lender will consider the assets and income of two people’s incomes and it may be more likely that they will approve a loan. However, there can be real problems with applying for or establishing joint accounts with your spouse.

If your spouse has poor credit, it could hold you back from being approved for credit if you apply for loans together. Also, their poor credit could end up affecting your good credit that you have worked so hard to establish if you end up setting up joint credit accounts with them. You need to also remember that both you and your spouse will be responsible for the payments and terms of joint credit accounts. You may be very responsible but it is possible that your spouse may not be as responsible.

Even more problems can arise setting up joint credit accounts with your spouse. There is always the possibility that there will be a divorce. This can cause serious problems and hardships with those joint accounts. You will need to deal with those joint accounts since you are both responsible for the payments. If your spouse stops holding up their end of the account, your credit will suffer. If you have credit cards together and do not close the accounts right away, they could charge up the credit cards, etc. Sometimes one or both of the spouses also has difficulty reestablishing credit in their own name.

When you are planning to get married or if you are already married, you will want to consider the financial status and credit history of your spouse or future spouse. You both need to be honest with one another and decide if you want to open joint credit accounts and if so whether or not to also maintain some individual accounts. It is important to prepare for the future for the benefit of both individuals.