“Does marrying someone with bad credit affect my credit score?” The short answer to that question is: No, it doesn’t. Your credit record will remain your credit report, and your new spouse’s credit record will remain theirs. Same for your 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:credit score.

But the longer answer is more complicated. Your spouse’s credit can affect your finances in vaܫrious ways. Here are some of the basics you and your spouse need to understand.

How Credit Scores Work

Your credit score is an assessment of your creditworthiness based on the items in your credit report at one or more of the three major national 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:credit bureaus. Your credit report includes 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:your borrowing history and your track record for repaying your debts on ti✨me, such as monthly cr⛄edit card bills.

Having a good credit score is important when you want to borrow money to buy a car or a hom🦂e and when you a🌃ren’t even borrowing. For example, an insurance company might look at your credit score in setting your rates; a landlord might look at it in deciding whether to rent you an apartment, and a prospective employer might check it before offering you a job. In other words, it is used to assess how reliable—or risky—you are likely to be in any number of situations.

You may not have any credit history before you get your 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:first credit card, but it will build up month after month. You may have accumulated a substantial 🦩record by the tim♌e you get married.

What Happens to Your Credit When You Gꦑet Married?

As a married couple, you and your spouse will continue to have two separate 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:credit histories tied to your respective Social Security numbers. Marriage doesn’t change that—there is no “couple’s credit report;” in fact, the credit bureaus don’t even record marital status. If one (or both) of you changes your name—one of you takes on your spouse’s surname, or you both hyphenate your names, for example—that won’t affect your credit, either, and you don’t have to notify the credit bureaus of the name change.

However, the married state can change your credit going forward if you apply for loans jointly, open joint accounts, or take on any other debt together. That’s why, before you tie the knot and periodically afterward, you should review your financial records, including salaries, savings, investments, and debts, and review your credit reports. You need to have a clear sense of how each of you handles money as you make your marriage journey together.

Taking Out a Joint Loan

If you d🐼ecide to take out a loan jointly with your spouse—say, for a house or a car—then your lender will likely check both of your credit histories when deciding whether to make the 🍬loan. If your spouse has a lousy credit record—and you have enough income to handle the loan payments by yourself—you might consider taking out the loan in your name only. If you don’t, you probably won’t be able to borrow as much and will be borrowing at higher interest rates than if you applied with just your good credit. In this instance, two scores are not better than one—the lower score will drag you both down.

If you do succeed in 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:getting a joint loan, your lender is required by law to report the loan and your payment history in both of your names. So keeღp in mind, for example, that if you have a joint car loan and miss any payments, those will show up on your credit history as well as that of your spouse.

3 Steps to Help a Spouse with Bad Credit

If your spouse has a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:bad credit history, you can help them create a more positive one and improve their credit score. (Rest assured that their liens, outstanding debts, 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:bankruptcies, and the like won’t wind up on your credit history. 🍨But you may want to keep your accounts separate—no joint accounts, joint credit cards, consolidated student loans, etc.—until your spouse’s credit improves.)

Here are three steps you can take together:

Get a handle on the problem.

First, your spouse should get a free copy of their credit report at AnnualCreditReport.com. That way, you can review it together and find out where they stand (while yo🐻u’re at it, it would be smart to get yours, too). Discuss what led to the problem—for example, a layoff, overspending, or not planning for emergencies. It’s important to be open and nonjudgmental.

Focus on repairing the damage.

Decide on a plan that will address the problems. Make a list of collection accounts and amounts and 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:pay them off—one at a time, if necessary. Are late payments dragging down their credit scores? Make sure they’re paid on time going for🦄ward. As soon as possible, reduce credit card balances to under 30% of the credit line to lower credit utilization (one of the credit score components).

༺Additionally, your spouse might want to consider working with one of the best credit repair companies to remove any particularly s𒆙tubborn negative marks.

Track your progress.

Obtain a credit report every few months to review the progress that you’ve made together, then tweak your plan as needed.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

The Bottom Line

Negative information in a credit report won’t haunt your spouse forever. It becomes less important over time and 🅰will eventually disappear altogether. By law, the credit bureaus must remove it after a certain period.

What’s more, the older the negative information is, the less of an impact it will have on a credit score. And if the two of you pay your bills on time and avoid excessive♑ debt going forward, then it won’t be many years before your spouse also achieves a good credit history.