Debts of Spouse Prior to Marriage

Question: Will I incur my finance’s debt if I marry him? We are planning to marry and I am debt free, he has some large debt. I do not want to incur those. Will there be a problem? He did put me on his credit card so I could use it when I wanted to. But I still have my own.

Answer: You are not liable for charges on a credit card unless you are a joint obligor on the card on which the charges were made. An authorized user is not liable. However, an account for which you are an authorized user will be reported on your credit report unless you object. Reporting of card on which you are an authorized user was instituted to protect married women, so that upon divorce/ death of husband they would not be completely without a credit history. It is generally not a good idea to be an authorized user on a card which has a poor payment record or a large balance.