How Marriage Affects Credit Scores

Marriage can be scary for many reasons, including credit scores. The most common scenario is that one spouse has a less-than-perfect credit score, whether from some missed credit card payments in college or from something more severe such as bankruptcy. This leaves the other spouse concerned about whether these past imperfections will tarnish a carefully maintained credit report and score.

Separate Credit Scores

The act of getting married does not directly affect credit scores, because spouses continue to maintain separate credit reports and credit scores after marriage. This is because credit reporting is linked to a person's Social Security number, which does not change upon marriage.

Therefore, newlyweds don't need to worry about their own credit scores averaging out with their spouse's. Those who already have good credit scores keep those scores after marrying somebody with bad credit.

Joint Accounts

Joint accounts held in both spouse's names will appear on both credit reports. Therefore, if a spouse with bad credit is added as an authorized user on a credit card of the spouse with good credit, making payments on time will benefit the credit history and credit score of the spouse with bad credit. However, the opposite can also occur: Delinquency on joint accounts will hurt the spouse with good credit.

Separate Accounts

Spouses should maintain separate credit cards and checking accounts even after marriage, according to Investopedia. These separate accounts will help them to keep activity on credit reports, and--assuming payments are made on time--to maintain a good credit score. Having recent credit history is important in case one spouse needs to apply for a loan individually in the future.

Mortgages

If both spouses work, usually both should appear on a mortgage application to have enough income to be approved for a mortgage with a good interest rate. This is a case in which both spouse's credit scores come into play, because a bad credit rating for one spouse can hurt the chance of the couple getting a good mortgage.

If the primary breadwinner has good credit, it might be a good idea for that person to apply for a mortgage alone, an article on CNN Money suggests. However, making payments on this mortgage will not boost the credit score of the spouse who is not listed.

Benefits

Although marriage does not directly affect credit scores, married couples need to take their credit scores into account as they plan their financial future together. Someone with bad credit can benefit greatly by marrying someone with good credit who will be responsible for the joint accounts and boost the bad credit score. When both spouses have good credit scores, they can secure good interest rates on joint credit accounts.