What Married Couples

Should Know About Their Credit Scores

Shared here to provide some helpful information about money and marriage to our savvy couples! This post tackles a very important topic: what married couples should know about credit scores.

After marriage, your credit score remains your own. While things like name changes will show up on your individual credit report, your partner’s financial moves have no impact on your report. Joint loans and bills can impact both your individual scores simultaneously.

Some important points to get out of the way

re: marriage, credit scores, and your money.

your credit score, reports, and history will not merge once you’re married. It’s worth noting that the FICO score, the most widely used credit scoring system, does not consider certain personal information in creating your credit score, such as your race, color, religion, national origin, sex, and marital status.

Your credit score will not merge after marriage

The great thing about still maintaining your own credit reports is that regardless of what happens to your credit score, your spouse’s scores won’t be affected. Since credit bureaus don’t have “married credit reports”, your credit report will continue to be uniquely yours for your lifetime.

You can still get individual credit reports and file disputes

Does marriage now mean you’re responsible for your partner’s debt? What does this mean for your credit score? We’ll answer these questions.

If you end up changing your last name, it won’t have an effect on your credit history. The only change that you can expect is that your credit profile will be updated with your new last name.

A name change doesn’t change your credit score/history

Saying “I do” on its own won’t lead to major changes in your credit score, other than your credit report reflecting your post-marriage surname.