Many women complain about not having any credit. Those complaining are those who
REALIZE that they do not have credit, single women or divorced women, specifically.
However, there are many married women who have no credit because financial matters are
handled by their husbands, and they are not even aware that they are without any type of
credit rating. This is a large problem in America today. Divorce seems to be the
predicament that taunts women in search of their own good credit ratings. Either the wife
did not have any of her own credit during the marriage, or the credit she shared with her
husband took a bad turn during the divorce.
The key to your credit success, regardless of your marital success, is that you build
your own "sole and separate" credit. There are many benefits to be gained.
First, in the event that the marriage does not work out, each spouse may part with their
own credit. If the wife was always on time with her payments and the husband was poor with
his payment schedule, they should be able to part ways with her credit intact.
Another good reason to have separate credit is in the event a financial tragedy comes
your way, leaving you with no alternative but to file bankruptcy. It might be possible
that one partner could file while the other remains clear. If your husband currently has
all the credit, have him place you on his accounts as a "sharer" of the account.
You want to be sure you share the account but not the contractual liability. This way you
will NOT be responsible for his errors. If it does show as a negative on your rating, you
will be able to dispute it as you did only share the account. If the account is in good
standing, work on getting it on your credit rating as you may take the responsibility for
the good rating. For men in similar situations, try the same method.
If neither the wife or the husband have any credit, then both would sign the account as
"joint" in privileges and contractual liability. Continue this process until you
both have enough credit to get credit singularly. Then, as your new sole and separate
accounts begin to get established, start closing the joint accounts you once shared. The
purpose of this is to establish your credit as "sole and separate".
Consider also the use of a joint checking account. A clean checking history is very
helpful in building credit, however, be wary if your spouse is particularly neglectful
when maintaining a checking account-the end result could cause more harm than good.
