 TITLE: Does Getting Married Combine Your Credit Reports? CONTENT: Can Marriage Affect Your Credit Score?\n--------------------------------------\nIt's important to remember that marriage does not directly affect your credit, and marital status is not included in your credit report. A spouse's accounts and credit history prior to the marriage will not be added to your credit report after you are married, unless your name is added to those accounts.\nYour account history will not be added to their report either—unless you add them as a joint owner on your accounts. If you do have joint accounts in both of your names, then the payment history on that account will affect both of your credit scores. Marriage can affect your credit if your spouse is responsible for paying your joint monthly car loan bill, for example, but misses the payment; in that case, your credit score will suffer too. That's also true if you cosign for a spouse's student loan and they fall behind on payments.\nOn the other hand, you or your spouse might benefit from becoming a joint account holder on the other's accounts if one of you has especially good credit. This can be important if you will apply for joint accounts in the future that will require both of your incomes and credit history to qualify, such as a car loan or mortgage. END