Question:

I’m engaged to be married in the next six months.
My credit rating is good, but my fiancé’s credit is really bad.

How will that affect my credit?
When we do get married, how will her poor credit affect our ability
to purchase a home and get a mortgage?

Can creditors come after me for her debts?

Answer:

Fortunately for you, your future bride’s credit history will not be merged
with yours. Married couples don’t have joint credit histories.

The only accounts that will be reported on both of your credit reports
will be any joint accounts you may have. If you don’t add her to your
accounts, or vice versa, and you don’t open any new accounts together,
your credit reports will be completely separate.

If you want to purchase a home and get a mortgage, the lender will look
at complete credit reports for the both of you. If you earn enough income
to qualify for a mortgage on your own, you will not have to include your
future bride on the loan.

However, (and this is a caveat) if you will be relying on her income to qualify,
then she will need to get serious about fixing her credit so it won’t cost both
of you a higher interest rate.

Creditors cannot come after you for the debts your fiancé incurs on her own.
The exception is if you live in one of nine community property states:

- Arizona
- California
- Idaho
- Louisiana
- Nevada
- New Mexico
- Texas
- Washington

In those states, debts either one of you obtain after you get married
are considered “community property” and you will likely both be
responsible for them.

No matter where you live, you will both be responsible for any joint
accounts until they are paid off and closed.

Many divorced individuals are surprised to learn that even if their
joint debts are assigned to their ex in the divorce decree, they
will still be responsible for the debt until the account is paid.

And late payments by their ex can damage their credit.

It would be smart for each of you to get copies of both your credit
reports before the wedding, review them together to develop a game
plan. Then put copies in a file in case her debts become an issue
for you later.

Arguments about money are one of the top reasons for divorce.
And more specifically, arguments about the lack of money is the
primary reason.

An excellent way to avoid the lack of money syndrome is to create
a home business together, and generate enough money so that it
doesn’t become an issue.

An excellent program that is easy to start and comes with complete
training is located at:

http://www.MoneyPlus2000.com

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 18th, 2007 at 3:23 am and is filed under Debt Consolidation, Credit Reports, Credit Card Debt. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.