Getting married in september to someone with really bad credit?

Question

Im getting married in September, but my other half has a poor credit rating where as mine is really good hence why i now control the purse strings.. I am woried that when i take his name this will affect my credit rating will i be tarred with the same brush when i become his wife and if so would keeping my maiden name help.

Answer 1

Don't worry about that! My husband's credit majorly sucks, so I've been the one w/ the credit cards and I also control the finances. We've been married for over 3 yrs now and I just bought him a car for Christmas b/c if we had his name on the loan, the rate would've been about 16-19%!!! That's ridiculous! So, I got a 10% rate, which isn't great, but better than the other option! What I've been doing is slowly paying off his debt when we get our tax return each year and hopefully in a few years, he'll be taken care of and in a position that we can start earning credit in his name. We file jointly and have 2 kids, so we get a substantial amount for our return. His debt's not too bad, but after cleaning up the credit, the 1st year he's back on his feet, if he can prove that he makes his payments on time and pays more than the min. pmt. due, he'll be able to earn more and more credit. But, I still control paying all the bills, so I KNOW that his payment history will be on point b/c I'm the one controlling it! Good luck!

Answer 2

It has nothing to do with your name. As long as you are considered married he has access to certain items and is considered a liability. If you plan on buying a house your soon to be husband's credit will definitely affect the loans that you are offered. His credit score does not change yours, so you will still have good credit, but when you are making joint purchases like cars, houses, loans and you need to claim his income as well then you will be affected by his poor credit. When you are purchasing things solo certain companies may check your husbands credit and deny you or give you an extremely high interest rate.You also want to be careful that he does not have debt. As much as you may love him, if things don't work out you can be held responsible for his debt. Make sure he is taking care of his debt and credit and be open with one another about purchases and budgeting. Money issues can lead to marital problems and divorce.

Answer 3

It won't affect you unless you jointly own an account or credit card. You are wise to be the purse holder. You can control the finances better. Sit down and talk to him and tell him you want to clean up the credit and will do it but he has to cooperate. I have that problem myself with my bf. My late husband was the same, too, bless his heart. Money burned a hole in his pocket. Fortunately I was not on any of his accounts so I wasn't liable for anything when he died. Keep a tight fist on the finances and you'll be fine.

Answer 4

Getting married will not effect your individual credit rating. Each person has their own rating.

The only time your partners adverse credit could effect you is if you are taking out a joint mortgage or loan, since the lender will always consider the person with the worst credit history when doing their risk assessment.

If you are considering taking out finance it would be cheaper to do it in just your name until such time your partners credit file is repaired. However, be aware of the affordability and legal implications of doing this.

If you want to look at your credit files the main 2 providers who supply information to lenders are www.experian.co.uk or www.equifax.co.uk

You do not state what bad credit your partner has if it is CCJ's then they will stay on your partners credit file for 6 years if they are below £250 then most lenders will ignore them. If the bad credit is mortgage arrears then these will stay on for between 12 to 24 months depending upon current mortgage lender

If you want to know anything else please feel free to email me

Answer 5

Credit ratings are based on Social Security Numbers. You will find it hard to get joint credit because his credit will bring up the interest rates. However you can still purchase a house and vehicles without having his name on the loan. You will not have a bad or affected credit rating because you married someone who does have a bad credit rating. I hope this helps!

Answer 6

I cannot imagine that his name is so rare that it will effect your credit rating as well and as a married couple you can be hold responsible for credit matters which occur during the marriage - no matter if you change your name or not, only to the "legal" fact of being married.

You can in no way be held responsible for your husband's credit matters that have occured before the marriage.

To be on the safe side you should think of agreeing (with your husband) on a separation of property. Ask a lawyer about the legal situation in UK, I only know about German law (as I am German), but I am sure there are similar if not identical options in UK as well.

Good luck!

Answer 7

Three simple steps: 1) Keep your finances separate, preferably in your maiden name. Don't do anything (open an a/c or even rent a house - keep it in one name only, preferably yours) in joint names; 2) Don't let him borrow any money and make sure no payments on current arrangements are missed; 3) Keep this up for four years (preferably staying at the same address) and his rating should be fine & yours unsulied.

Answer 8

Bad credit is one of the worst problems to have... however there exists a solution.

I will hereby talk from my personal experience.

I did debt consolidation a couple of years ago, however If I had to do it again I would pay to some minor details,
if someone wants to get out of debt today it is pretty easy with a debt consolidation plan, however it may get a bit tricky at times, I suggest you get as much information as possible online on this first,

a good place to start in my humble opinion is astraight to the point ebook with question and answer I found :

http://umgarticles.atspace.com/debt-consolidation.htm

if it helps kindly remember me in your voting!.. cheers!

Answer 9

Depends on a few things, but you will take on some responsibility for his debts. If nothing else, while you're married, you will hounded by his creditors. And you will not be able to use his name on any credit application. For example, if you want to buy a house, the mortgage would need to be in your name only.

If, God forbid, you get divorced, his bad credit can be attached to you. This depends on your state.

Keeping your maiden name will not help you much.

Answer 10

I don't think it will as long as he doesn't accrue more debts after you 2 are married. The dates on the debts will show that they were before you 2 were married so it should not affect you. You should try talking to him and trying to get him to see a debt counselor and maybe consolidate those debts. That way he can rebuild his credit.