Before you get married it is important to discuss finances to be sure you are both on the same page as to how you will handle them. However, your credit reports and your credit score are a different matter entirely. Many people have misconceptions regarding what happens when you get married as it pertains to your credit score. Some of the common marriage myths are examined:
Myth: Getting married marries your credit reports too
Credit reports are compiled based on your social security number and your name. Since you share neither with your new spouse, you will not share credit either. If you do not share a credit account, you should not share credit. You will not see your spouse’s credit on your report or vice versa. If your spouse has poor credit, this will not affect yours. If your spouse has good credit, it will not improve yours. The only time you will see a merging of accounts is if you open a joint account together.
Myth: Marriage lowers your credit score
The simple act of marriage does nothing to lower your credit score automatically. However, it may seem like as soon as you get married your score lowers. Look to your spending habits as the culprit, though. Did you finance all or part of your wedding? Do you need to buy a home or another vehicle now? With marriage often comes increased responsibility. With increased responsibility often comes increased credit usage. So, your credit score may decrease due to a change in your credit habits but the act of marriage itself does nothing to affect your score positively or negatively.
Myth: Women who decide to change their name will have credit issues
The main way to compile credit is via social security number. However, your name does play a part in it so if you decide to change your name you may see some inaccuracies while this is transitioning. However, most people will see no change at all. Your credit history does not get erased but updated. You will also see both your maiden and married names on your credit report under the personal section.
Myth: I will have access to all my spouse’s accounts when we are married
Your credit and debt are yours alone. Your spouse neither has an obligation to them nor does the souse get benefit of using them automatically. In order to have access to accounts, the other person must be authorized and added to the account. In most cases, this is simply an authorization for use and not an inclusion of liability. For example, if you have a credit card, you may add your spouse to it as a signer but the spouse is not responsible for payment. Therefore, if it becomes a negative credit it will not affect the spouse. For loans such as mortgage and car loans, in order to add your spouse as someone who will share in responsibility there typically needs to be a refinance.
Your credit report is your own and is not shared with your spouse. No matter what you do, unless you open joint accounts your credit will remain separate. If you do open joint accounts, though, the credit will be shown on both credit reports and the payment history will affect the scores of both. Keep in mind, though, that just because your credit reports and credit scores are separate this does not mean you will never be affected by one another’s scores. If you apply for something jointly such as a credit card, mortgage or vehicle loan you may be denied or have to pay higher interest rates if your spouse has poor credit.
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- The Truth about Credit Scores
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- Top Ten Ways to Build and Maintain Good Credit
- How Credit Really Works: What Can you Really Do?
- Bad Credit? Don’t Let it Ruin your Life
- Are Credit Monitoring Services Worth the Expense?
- Stop Identity Theft: Shred Documents to Avoid Credit Scams
- How your Credit Report can Help you Avoid Identity Theft
- What you Don’t Know About Credit Cards