 TITLE: Getting Married? Here’s How It Affects Your Credit CONTENT: Will Getting Married Hurt My Credit?\n------------------------------------\nGetting married won't directly affect your credit. You'll continue to have your own credit report that lists accounts open only in your name and accounts you cosigned. Your spouse's accounts won't show up, and your credit reports won't be consolidated.\nOnce you and your spouse apply for credit together, the activity on the account could start affecting each of your credit. Say you jointly apply for a car loan or mortgage. If your spouse is responsible for paying the bill and misses a payment, both your credit scores will suffer.\nOr, say you add your spouse to your credit card account as an authorized user and they charge more on the card than either of you can afford. That could result in a higher credit utilization rate, or the amount owed on your card relative to its limit, negatively affecting your credit score. You also could accrue interest charges if you can't pay the full balance each month.\nYour credit could be hurt if your spouse has late payments in their credit history and you're added as a joint account holder to one of those accounts. It's best to take a close look at each other's credit reports to avoid making decisions with unintended consequences. END