What Will Happen to My Credit Score When I Get Married?

16 Comments

  1. Hi Molly, this is a great series and I’m so glad so many people are benefiting from it. I just wanted to say one small thing. Closing all his accounts actually could negatively affect his credit score. Although, maybe not by much. One way your credit score is calculated is by how much open to used credit you have. If some of his cards are maxed out and others are not and he starts closing the accounts he doesn’t owe anything on, then it will affect the used/available ratio and ultimately his credit score. I don’t mean this in an argumentative way or to take from your series. Like I said this is a great series and I enjoy reading it.

    1. Thank you so much, Lacey!! And I totally know what you are saying – I actually meant closing bank accounts, when I was referring to “closing accounts” – but I know what you mean. I just am a big proponent of not having anything separate after marriage – even if that means opening another card together or whathaveyou. 🙂 🙂 Thanks for reading!!

  2. You give such great advice, Molly! Thanks for sharing your input on the matter.
    I’ve always 100% agreed with the statement that marriage is about “ours” and eliminating the “mine” and “yours”.

    Good for you! 🙂

  3. Molly, this is a really well thought out and written post! I THINK EVERYONE should read this before getting married. EVERYONE. Finances can be such a burden on your relationship and if you have everything out in the open and figure out the best route to go, it will put everyone on the same page. I am not in this situation yet and I hope to rebuild my credit before I tie the not, but I will definitely be book marking this one!

  4. Thank you so much for posting this. It’s a huge help!!!! Just two questions…will adding him as an “authorized user” help him? Will they always show up on his credit report?

    I appreciate the guidance on this ;o)

    1. Hey MT! Absolutely – as long as his social security number is associated with the card, it will show up on his credit report. And you NEVER want to keep a balance of more than 35% of the card. 🙂

  5. My credit is great, but my husband had NO credit when we were married; his only previous credit (all bad) was old enough to not count anymore. Our mortgage is in my name only, though he’s on the deed to the house. We bought a couch with some wedding gift cash, but we financed it in his name to at least get something on his record. It was 0% financing for 12 months so we just made sure to pay enough each month that we were done a couple of months ahead of time. I later added him as an authorized user on my credit card, which we use only sparingly and pay off every month. His credit is now better than mine!! I’m a bit miffed over this, but not really, because we’re a team and I know that my score is based in part on our mortgage and the debt/income ratio that gives, while his score is only from the couch and being tied to the credit card. (The credit card does show on his credit report, even though he’s not a guarantor of the debt.)

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