Marriage & Your Credit Score
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- There is no 'marital credit score.'
- Spouses do not inherit each other's scores upon marriage.
- Piggy-backing allows one spouse to benefit from the other's strong score.
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When you marry, do you inherit your spouse's bad credit score or history?
Do you inherit bad credit from a partner who has bad credit before you marry them?
The quick answer is: No! You will not inherit your spouse’s credit rating. There is no "marital credit score." One spouse's score can be high, and the other's score may be low, and both will remain that way if they continue their behavior. What you might get however, is that if you jointly apply for a mortgage or a loan, both of your credit ratings will be analyzed if you both apply together.
If you have a high credit score and you spouse has a low score, do not add yourself to your spouse’s cards as an authorized user because your credit score will suffer. If you have low credit and your spouse has excellent credit, ask your spouse to add you as an authorized user, which will pull up your credit score. This is called piggy-backing in the credit report trade.
Practice good credit hygiene. Pay your bills on time. Pay off any delinquent cards or accounts as quickly as possible to improve your credit rating. Do not max-out your credit cards.
It might be important to understand how your credit score is calculated. FICO, VantageScore, and PLUS Score use five variables to calculate a consumer's credit score, including:
- Payment history (any delinquencies, charge-offs, etc.)
- Amount and type of debt owed
- Any maxed-out tradelines (accounts)
- Credit history length
- Number of recent inquiries (so-called "hard-pulls") to the consumer's credit profile
Paying off delinquent or maxed out trade-lines will almost always help your credit score. To learn more, see the credit score resource page.
We hope this helped you to Find, Learn, & Save!
Best,
Bill
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10 Comments
In non-community property states, pre-marital property and debt are considered separate property. If the spouses now live in a community property state, or lived in one at the time the consumer debt account (such as a credit card account) was opened, the non-signing spouse may have incurred liability without signing a credit contract as co-debtor.
You may also want to consult with an attorney in LA, to see if the fact that Louisiana is a community property state will make your spouse liable for the debt, even if it was incurred prior to marriage.
Your best course of action may be to look into debt settlement.