Marriage, Divorce & Your Credit

Before you say "I do" I recommend full disclosure!

By “full disclosure,” I refer to the financial realm and not just talking about where you're going to live, whether or how many kids to have or where to go on your honeymoon. At some point you've got to talk about money both in terms of where you're going and where you've been. Your credit history and scores need to be a part of such a conversation.

So many marriages are begun without this essential, logical, and rational step and it leads to so many arguments and strife later. If anything is out of order financially, the time to fix it is BEFORE you get married! There are some things you don't want to bring into a new relationship.

And then there's the unfortunate matter of divorce...

Statistics show that at least 50 percent of first marriages end in divorce as do many of subsequent marriages. Most people don't plan on it, but it happens. It’s important to know how to recover financially should it ever happen. Divorce can be devastating and most attorneys don't know how to help you with that part. The attorney is under no obligation to protect you from the financial pitfalls. Most couldn't anyway.

You've got to reach out to a financial professional both before and after marriage. No matter the situation, it often helps to have another person looking from the outside. The same thing applies to your credit and credit history. A lot of what it takes to rebuild your rating is counter- intuitive. This means you THINK you should do it, but you shouldn't.

This is where I can help. It is so crucial and failing to take action can create a direct threat to your financial security and your credit rating.

mark@risingpointsolutions.com