Does getting married affect your credit score?

No. Getting married does not affect your credit score. Married couples don’t share a credit score or a credit report, and your credit reputation can’t change just by association. That’s true whether your spouse has “excellent” or “bad” credit, for example.

One of the only changes to your credit that you can expect after getting married is your credit report being updated to reflect a new “alias” if your nuptials result in a name change. But that won’t erase your previous credit history and force you to start all over again. The credit bureaus identify individuals using Social Security numbers, which stay the same after marriage.

Other than that, a newly married couple’s credit lives are likely to directly intermingle only if they open a joint account or one becomes an authorized user on the other’s credit card account.

Married Couples & Joint Accounts: Many lenders offer joint applications, enabling couples to share in the ownership of a house, car, or credit card, for example, as well as the liability for the accompanying debt. Some lenders will consider both parties’ income, existing debt obligations, and credit scores in evaluating a joint application. Others may focus on the least creditworthy individual, judging the total package based on its weakest link. You would therefore be wise to inquire about a given lender’s practices prior to submitting a joint application.

It’s also in your best interest to help your partner improve his or her credit score — with guidance, discipline and moral support, for example — so you won’t have to worry about how issuers evaluate joint applications or losing money and points off your score due to unnecessary mistakes on your partner’s part. After all, the account will be listed on both of your credit reports if you get approved, and both of you will be legally responsible for payment.

Married Couples & Authorized Users: If you have good or excellent credit and your spouse has below-average credit, adding him or her as an authorized user on your account is a great way to help pull up your partner’s score. After all, the account will be added to the authorized user’s credit reports, and that individual will therefore benefit from a higher credit line than he or she would be able to qualify for independently as well as on-time bill payments (hopefully). But there’s no point in doing things the other way around. You can learn more about this strategy from our authorized user guide.

Finally, it’s worth noting that marriage, like any other major life event, can have an indirect effect on your credit by introducing new financial dynamics that perhaps could lead to habit or schedule changes. But the results could just as easily be positive as negative. You can keep close tabs on how everything plays out by signing up for a free WalletHub account. WalletHub is the only website that offers free credit scores and full credit reports that are updated on a daily basis, and we supplement that with 24/7 credit monitoring as well as customized credit-improvement advice.

Getting married does not affect your credit scores or your individual credit reports. If one of you have bad credit, however, it may affect your chance of getting approved for large loans like a mortgage, when lenders usually consider both spouses' income and credit history.

Getting married can only affect your credit score only if you getting a joint credit card with your spouse or adding your spouse as an authorized user. In this case, the joint account will be reported on both credit reports and can affect it for better or worse, depending on how you handle debts and payments.