How to Get Your Spouse Off Your Credit

After marrying, many couples share every aspect of their lives -- including their finances. One common misconception consumers carry about marriage is that a couple's credit history automatically merges after marriage. This is not true. You have your own credit history independent of your spouse's. Over time, as the two of you incur joint debt, your credit reports begin reflecting the same information -- leading some to believe that their reports and those of their spouse were merged. Should you and your wife separate or divorce in the future, separating your joint accounts ensures that your wife's financial behavior does not impact your credit score.

Instructions

1

Pull your credit reports. You must know what joint credit information appears in your credit file before you can remedy the problem. You can pull your credit reports directly from the credit bureaus for free once a year at the AnnualCreditReport website.

2

Read through your credit report. Write down the contact information for any credit card accounts in your wife's name for which you are listed as an authorized user. If you are an authorized user on your wife's account, her credit card history appears on your credit report.

3

Contact the credit card company and request that it revoke your status as an authorized user. This prevents any further purchases or payments your wife makes on the account from appearing on your credit report and impacting your score.

4

Ask your wife to refinance any loans the two of you share joint liability for into her own name if she has possession of the asset. For example, if you divorce and your wife receives the car in the divorce agreement, you are still legally responsible for the payments. Any payments your wife does or does not make appear in your credit history. By refinancing the vehicle into her own name, the auto loan becomes hers alone and does not affect your credit rating.

5

Pay off and cancel other joint accounts that you share with your spouse, such as joint credit card accounts. By paying the cards off before cancelling them, you ensure that the creditor no longer reports the shared debt on either your credit report or your wife's.

6

Look for any accounts on your credit report that belong to only your wife. Dispute any individual accounts your wife has that were reported on your credit report by mistake. You can dispute credit information directly with the creditor that reported it and with the credit bureaus.

7

Monitor your credit history. Federal law requires the credit bureaus to remove any information that already appears on your credit report as shared debt after seven years.