What Your Good Credit Score Can Bring to Your Marriage

This post is sponsored by Lexington Law Firm.
There are several combination outcomes possible when marrying into another person’s credit score–two lows, two highs, one of each, or maybe you’re both rockin’ that midrange. While getting married doesn’t affect your score directly, there are several reasons to discuss your scores openly, then you can successfully plan your happy future together. Let’s talk about what your good credit score can bring to a marriage, what happens when your spouse’s credit is low, and the process of credit repair.

Huge decisions are required when entering into a legally binding partnership with another person. There are obvious emotional factors involved, including choices about where to live, whose furniture to keep, deciding on insurance companies, etc. However, couples should also have conversations about the state of their finances. It’s right up there with shopping for term life insurance quotes – not the most fun task to do, but necessary for building a life together.

Have THE Conversation

Are either of you bringing a significant amount of debt into the relationship? Is there a plan in place to have separate checking accounts? If so, who will be in charge of paying bills? Do either of you have strong buying power, coupled with a good credit score, to make getting a loan possible? Do either of you have bad credit, requiring a solid credit repair plan?

Ask the tough questions and own your past–good or bad. Together you’ll be able to formulate a plan to pay off debts, raise credit scores, and get the loans required to buy a home, rent that dream apartment, or finance your wedding.

One Good Credit Score and One Bad Credit Score

You’ve had the talk and established your spouse has a low credit score. Thanks to their honesty, you can charge forth with a plan to remedy the situation.

The first step is to obtain copies of your reports and look for anything that doesn’t appear accurate. If you find marks on your report that do not belong, contact Lexington Law Firm right away. They’ll help with the credit repair process for an incredibly reasonable monthly fee.

Again, rest assured that your spouse’s bad credit will not affect yours unless you add them to an account and they abuse limits or make late payments. As long as you communicate openly and address the past behaviors which led to the low score, adding them to one of your accounts is one way to help raise their score.

If you have a credit card with a high limit and long history, adding your spouse to that account can significantly help offset their credit utilization ratio. They can also request limit increases on the accounts their current accounts, as long you’re confident they won’t abuse this available credit.

Getting the First Big Loan as a Couple

Whether it’s for your wedding or first home, it’s not impossible to get a loan if one of you has bad credit. If you have some time before you need the loan, focus on your partner’s credit repair process.

If you need the loan before your spouse’s credit has time to recover, it might be wise to exclude them from the application process. If needed, a third party with high credit can cosign to help offset the low score.

Work Together

To help your future or present spouse, work together to pay off debts and come up with a plan to ensure payments are always made on time. Your combined efforts will strengthen more than just your finances–your bond will become solidified with open and honest conversation.

Feel confident that one of those conversations–credit repair–may become one of your most valuable. The process will result in more than a cleaner credit history, ensuring stronger purchasing opportunities. You’ll also benefit from a personal finance education that will carry you through parenthood and retirement. The teams at Lexington Law are your allies in the journey from credit repair to homeowner, and from establishing a savings plan to taking your bucket list vacation.

Want to get started? Lexington Law offers a free credit repair consultation, which includes a complete review of your free credit report summary and score.

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