Does Marrying Someone With Bad Credit Hurt Yours?

When you marry someone, you’re prepared to face all of life’s challenges beside them. But what if one of those challenges is their bad credit?

If your soon-to-be spouse doesn't have the best credit, that’s not always a reason to call off the wedding. However, it’s important to make sure you understand the potential risks. Does marrying someone with bad credit affect your credit score? Take a closer look.

Does marrying someone with bad credit affect your credit score?

The short answer is that marrying someone with bad credit won’t automatically impact your score. Getting married doesn’t merge your credit reports, and in most cases, it doesn’t make you liable for your spouse’s debts.

However, if you have joint financial goals (like buying a home or saving for retirement), your spouse’s poor credit may make those goals harder to achieve.

When your spouse's bad credit can affect you

You might be relieved to hear that if your spouse has a bad credit score, it doesn’t directly impact your score. However, that doesn’t mean you’ll be completely immune from the consequences of your spouse’s bad credit.

When does marriage affect your credit score? These are a few common situations where your spouse’s poor credit could have a negative impact on you.

Joint accounts and co-signed loans

Whether you take on a joint debt with your spouse or co-sign on a loan for them, you are both considered responsible for the debt. As long as your spouse makes payments on time and in full, this shouldn’t negatively affect your score.

However, if you co-sign a loan and your spouse fails to make payments, your credit score could be seriously damaged. The creditor could also sue you for the debt.

Applying for a mortgage together

For most people, purchasing a home is the biggest financial decision they’ll make in their lifetimes. Buying a house with your spouse may make it easier to afford the mortgage, but if your spouse has bad credit, you might have trouble qualifying for the best rates.

Many people think that mortgage lenders average both spouses’ credit scores or look at the higher score when evaluating an application, but neither is true. Here’s how mortgage lenders usually determine which score to use:

• They pull each person’s credit score for all three bureaus
• They drop the highest and lowest scores for each person
• They then choose the lowest of the two remaining scores

Here’s an example. Imagine your three scores are 731, 750, and 720. Your spouse’s scores are 630, 635, and 625. Your middle score is 731, and your spouse’s is 630. That means your mortgage lender will consider your spouse’s score when evaluating your application.

For most conventional mortgages, you need a credit score of 620 or higher. However, Federal Housing Administration loans and other government-backed loans may accept credit scores as low as 500.

Community property states

In most states, you don’t have to worry about being held responsible for your spouse’s debt. However, if you live in a state with community property laws, you might be held jointly responsible for your spouse’s debt in the event of a divorce.

There are nine states with community property laws:

• Arizona
• California
• Idaho
• Louisiana
• Nevada
• New Mexico
• Texas
• Washington
• Wisconsin

In these states, debts accumulated during your marriage are considered to be jointly owned by both parties. This is true even if only one spouse’s name is on the account.

How to protect your credit after marriage

Does marriage affect your credit score? It doesn’t always, but it’s still a good idea to take steps to protect your credit while helping your spouse build theirs.

Keep some accounts separate

Many married couples choose to combine finances. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that approach, but if you want to maintain your positive credit history, keep some credit cards and other financial accounts separate. Only co-sign on a debt for your spouse if you’re comfortable being fully liable for it.

Monitor both credit reports

Whether you’re married or not, it’s always wise to keep an eye on your credit report. You and your spouse can obtain free copies of your credit reports from AnnualCreditReport.com.

Help your spouse build credit

If you want to help your spouse improve their credit, you might consider adding them to one or more of your accounts as an authorized user. Just remember that their spending will have an effect on your credit score, too.

Let Kikoff help you build your credit

Does marrying someone with bad credit affect your credit score? It doesn’t automatically mean your score will be dragged down, but it can put your credit and finances at risk.

Fortunately, bad credit isn’t permanent, and there are more credit-building tools out there than you probably realize. Kikoff is one of them. We’re a credit-builder app for everyone.

When you sign up, you can gain access to an interest-free credit account that lets you build credit with each payment. We also offer rent reporting and a suite of tools to help you (or your spouse) boost your credit score and get closer to financial wellness. Get started with us today!