credit questions reguarding a marrage

[jen197954982]

state of wisconsin-i am ingaged to be married but I have really bad credit from a past relationship. I am losing my house which i own with my ex to foreclosure. if i do indead lose the house and i get married will my fiance credit also be ruined? he now has perfect credit and i don't want to ruin it for him.

 

[bigun]

Everyone goed through life with their own credit report. Your problems will not affect his credit. The problem will be should the 2 of you apply for joint credit like a home or car loan. His income and credit will have to be enough to carry the day to keep you from paying subprime rates.
One other problem. If you have a definciency on the home sale, you can be sued so I would not comingle property or bank accounts until you get your stuff straightened out.

 

[readsstuff]

credit info for a Wisconsin marriage

Caution: bigun apparently doesn't know that Wisconsin is a Marital Property State, also called a community property state. Because of the Marital Property Act, your property and debts are handled VERY differently.

Readers from other states should note that several other states are also community property states. According to http://www.financialstrategies.com/encyclopedia/legal/estate_and_legal/community_property.html, the other states are Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Washington. That website has general info about community property.

**** You will want to consult someone more knowledgeable about how, exactly, your future-husband's credit could be affected by your old debt, but the websites below should give you some understanding.


I found several websites relating to the Wisconsin "Marital Property Act" which may shed some light on the issue:
http://www.wisbar.org/bar/pxcongd5a.html Especially look at the first few paragraphs, as well as the later parts about credit and debts.

You may also want to get the publication mentioned at: http://www.uwex.edu/ces/news/releases/fl9612gg.htm

At http://www.legalexplorer.com/legal, you should check out both of these links:
Answering Your Questions about Marriage
Answering Your Questions about Marital Property

You can find lots more if you enter "Wisconsin" and "Marital Property" in your search engine.

Hope this helps!

 

[JETX]

Readstuff, with all due respect, you are almost right on this issue. As you noted, Wisconsin (and the other states you listed) are communal property states; however, the debt noted in this discussion would be pre-marital and that is not subject to communal rules. As such, this debt will remain hers and not become communal debt even after marriage.

However, Jen needs to realize that though her debt will remain hers, it can affect the overall marriage credit. Anytime a potential creditor runs the credit history, the negative on Jen's history will 'pop-up'. And, depending on the creditors rules, it could impact the lender decision (and could generate sub-prime, higher, interest rates), or even cause a rejection of the application.

Also, Jen needs to be aware that if the creditor takes the debt to court and gets a judgment, that judgement can be rendered against any non-exempt assets that the debtor has, individually or communally. This could include joint-owned assets like bank accounts. Then the courts would determine what percentage of the asset was owned by the individual debtor and 'split the baby' in order to pay the creditor.

To answer Jen's question ("will my fiance credit also be ruined?"):
No, 'your' credit history will never directly affect your fiance's, but it could affect it indirectly anytime that you make joint credit decisions.