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Getting married soon

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TheFate
Established Contributor

Getting married soon

So I just got engaged and was curious, when you marry does your partners Scores, baddies and debt combine with yours? Are is it only on things you guys apply for together?

Message 1 of 14
13 REPLIES 13
azguy13
Senior Contributor

Re: Getting married soon


@TheFate wrote:

So I just got engaged and was curious, when you marry does your partners Scores, baddies and debt combine with yours? Are is it only on things you guys apply for together?


First off, congrats on the engagement!

 

An individual's credit report is exactly that... an individual's. So no, her baddies will not be put on your report. Now, if you apply for a joint account then her baddies will be taken into consideration. If you default on a joint account then the baddies will be on both of your reports. 

 

Message 2 of 14
TheFate
Established Contributor

Re: Getting married soon


@azguy13 wrote:

@TheFate wrote:

So I just got engaged and was curious, when you marry does your partners Scores, baddies and debt combine with yours? Are is it only on things you guys apply for together?


First off, congrats on the engagement!

 

An individual's credit report is exactly that... an individual's. So no, her baddies will not be put on your report. Now, if you apply for a joint account then her baddies will be taken into consideration. If you default on a joint account then the baddies will be on both of your reports. 

 


Thanks!

 

Shes the one, she was my highschool sweet heart and we were together for 12 years before I poped the question.. Not sure why I waited so long.

 

Anyways reason I ask is because although her scores are not that bad, she has a few baddies and 2 nearly maxed cards reporting right now... I didn't want to pushback everything I had worked hard for.

 

But, we will be getting a house in about 3 years so i'll be helping her get her debt down and back on track. She seems to have an open ear about it and WANTS to try so thats good.. Her only downfall is her Income hence the reason for nearly maxing her cards

Message 3 of 14
azguy13
Senior Contributor

Re: Getting married soon


@TheFate wrote:

@azguy13 wrote:

@TheFate wrote:

So I just got engaged and was curious, when you marry does your partners Scores, baddies and debt combine with yours? Are is it only on things you guys apply for together?


First off, congrats on the engagement!

 

An individual's credit report is exactly that... an individual's. So no, her baddies will not be put on your report. Now, if you apply for a joint account then her baddies will be taken into consideration. If you default on a joint account then the baddies will be on both of your reports. 

 


Thanks!

 

Shes the one, she was my highschool sweet heart and we were together for 12 years before I poped the question.. Not sure why I waited so long.

 

Anyways reason I ask is because although her scores are not that bad, she has a few baddies and 2 nearly maxed cards reporting right now... I didn't want to pushback everything I had worked hard for.

 

But, we will be getting a house in about 3 years so i'll be helping her get her debt down and back on track. She seems to have an open ear about it and WANTS to try so thats good.. Her only downfall is her Income hence the reason for nearly maxing her cards


It sounds like you two will be very happy together. One of the biggest reasons why newlyweds argue is money. Sounds like if you can keep that under control then you are already ahead of most everyone else. 

 

If you do not want the baddies on your report, just do not put yourself as an AU on any of her maxxed out cards or any other account with derogs. Also, 12-18 months prior to app'ing for a mortgage, I would spend some time in the mortgage forum. It is always good to be well informed prior to moving ahead. You will hear good experiences and you will hear bad ones. 

Message 4 of 14
TheFate
Established Contributor

Re: Getting married soon


@azguy13 wrote:

@TheFate wrote:

@azguy13 wrote:

@TheFate wrote:

So I just got engaged and was curious, when you marry does your partners Scores, baddies and debt combine with yours? Are is it only on things you guys apply for together?


First off, congrats on the engagement!

 

An individual's credit report is exactly that... an individual's. So no, her baddies will not be put on your report. Now, if you apply for a joint account then her baddies will be taken into consideration. If you default on a joint account then the baddies will be on both of your reports. 

 


Thanks!

 

Shes the one, she was my highschool sweet heart and we were together for 12 years before I poped the question.. Not sure why I waited so long.

 

Anyways reason I ask is because although her scores are not that bad, she has a few baddies and 2 nearly maxed cards reporting right now... I didn't want to pushback everything I had worked hard for.

 

But, we will be getting a house in about 3 years so i'll be helping her get her debt down and back on track. She seems to have an open ear about it and WANTS to try so thats good.. Her only downfall is her Income hence the reason for nearly maxing her cards


It sounds like you two will be very happy together. One of the biggest reasons why newlyweds argue is money. Sounds like if you can keep that under control then you are already ahead of most everyone else. 

 

If you do not want the baddies on your report, just do not put yourself as an AU on any of her maxxed out cards or any other account with derogs. Also, 12-18 months prior to app'ing for a mortgage, I would spend some time in the mortgage forum. It is always good to be well informed prior to moving ahead. You will hear good experiences and you will hear bad ones. 


I will deff keep that in mind. I was going to evenutally make my way over there but I still feel myself I need to master the basics of credit before I can even think about mortgage.

 

Whats strange about the situation is that I was actually the complete oppisite 3-4 years ago with horrible credit and she was the one with Great Scores. Now that I've got mine in check she starts dropping in her scores. Her main issue is lack of income, which I'm trying to think how we can resolve this issue. 

 

I'm almost thinking about taking over all the bills so she can goto school. It would be a little tuff at first but could be a great investment in the long run. Other than that all I can do is help her find a good desk job.

Message 5 of 14
nachoslibres
Established Contributor

Re: Getting married soon

Like others say, it's all about being on the same page.  While I still generally handle the setting of the budget, I'm in constant communication with my wife about what is going on, and she has access to the budget at all times, whether from her computer or phone.  (You Need a Budget is an awesome budgeting/money managing tool)

 

I also recommend, ONCE YOU GET MARRIED, to combine finances, unless you can't trust her, which then means you probably shouldn't get married (but I don't hear this from you, in fact I hear the opposite).  I know way too many people that keep finances separate and I've never seen where that has been beneficial.

Message 6 of 14
MT936
Established Contributor

Re: Getting married soon

Congrats on the upcoming marriage. You will stay have an individual report but if you were to take out a loan using her income in addition to yours, her baddies would then affect you.

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Message 7 of 14
gamegrrl
Frequent Contributor

Re: Getting married soon

IMHO, I don't believe combining finances after marriage is always a good idea.

 

I'm getting married to my fiancee of 14 years (we've been friends for over 50). We have lived together for 14 years. He has great credit, but mainly because he has had NO credit to manage, to speak of. He is forgetful and not mindful with bill paying, and he is not very good at managing money. He is a good man, and incredibly brilliant, but these things are simply not his strong suit.

 

We have ONE joint bank account. Everything else is separate. The joint account is where a percentage of his paycheck goes, and I move money there every day or so as we make purchases and pay bills with a very high limit NFCU credit card. Every month, the money in that joint account pays off that credit card.

 

Beyond that, I manage all the finances except his bank accounts and his two credit cards. And he has messed up payments on at least one of those accounts twice this year, so far. He feels a need to manage those two cards, even though I have literally begged him to let me take over.

 

Nope. I will not be comingling our funds any more than they already are.


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Message 8 of 14
Revelate
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Getting married soon


@gamegrrl wrote:

IMHO, I don't believe combining finances after marriage is always a good idea.

 

I'm getting married to my fiancee of 14 years (we've been friends for over 50). We have lived together for 14 years. He has great credit, but mainly because he has had NO credit to manage, to speak of. He is forgetful and not mindful with bill paying, and he is not very good at managing money. He is a good man, and incredibly brilliant, but these things are simply not his strong suit.

 

We have ONE joint bank account. Everything else is separate. The joint account is where a percentage of his paycheck goes, and I move money there every day or so as we make purchases and pay bills with a very high limit NFCU credit card. Every month, the money in that joint account pays off that credit card.

 

Beyond that, I manage all the finances except his bank accounts and his two credit cards. And he has messed up payments on at least one of those accounts twice this year, so far. He feels a need to manage those two cards, even though I have literally begged him to let me take over.

 

Nope. I will not be comingling our funds any more than they already are.


His situation is begging to setup lender auto-pay for the minimums at least; if he forgets a month, no biggie.

 

I'm not a huge fan of comingling finances other than the joint bills account either (mostly because if I and theoretical spouse get into financial trouble, I'd much prefer to be able to shield one of us such that we can still qualify for car loans or credit cards and the like later if needed while rebuilding the one person's credit), but sometimes it's unavoidable: the important thing though is to find a workable financial situation, which it sounds like you've solved, just others will wind up with different solutions based on their own relationships and requirements.




        
Message 9 of 14
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Getting married soon


@Revelate wrote:

@gamegrrl wrote:

IMHO, I don't believe combining finances after marriage is always a good idea.

 

I'm getting married to my fiancee of 14 years (we've been friends for over 50). We have lived together for 14 years. He has great credit, but mainly because he has had NO credit to manage, to speak of. He is forgetful and not mindful with bill paying, and he is not very good at managing money. He is a good man, and incredibly brilliant, but these things are simply not his strong suit.

 

We have ONE joint bank account. Everything else is separate. The joint account is where a percentage of his paycheck goes, and I move money there every day or so as we make purchases and pay bills with a very high limit NFCU credit card. Every month, the money in that joint account pays off that credit card.

 

Beyond that, I manage all the finances except his bank accounts and his two credit cards. And he has messed up payments on at least one of those accounts twice this year, so far. He feels a need to manage those two cards, even though I have literally begged him to let me take over.

 

Nope. I will not be comingling our funds any more than they already are.


His situation is begging to setup lender auto-pay for the minimums at least; if he forgets a month, no biggie.

 

I'm not a huge fan of comingling finances other than the joint bills account either (mostly because if I and theoretical spouse get into financial trouble, I'd much prefer to be able to shield one of us such that we can still qualify for car loans or credit cards and the like later if needed while rebuilding the one person's credit), but sometimes it's unavoidable: the important thing though is to find a workable financial situation, which it sounds like you've solved, just others will wind up with different solutions based on their own relationships and requirements.


I agree, having most everything isolated from each other is far more advantageous when joint applications for credit are un-necessary. Large purchases, such as a house or an expensive car, joint application might net you lower rates if both parties have healthy credit reports, but if not, you should think twice.

 

For example, I recently purchased a new car on my credit alone for my fiancé. She has very little income and an extremely thin file with a few bads, and having her apply with me wouldn’t have helped, and could actually have driven up the otherwise excellent rate I got from my CU.

 

Having each others individual credit to fall back on during tough times is a smart move. One persons credit can take the hit while the others stays spotless. If everything is co-joined, its hard to keep every hit from effecting both of your histories.

 

This philosophy also helped when I got divorced last year, as it made split of assets and debts very easy minus a home mortgage, and some vacation property.

Message 10 of 14
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