Debunking Myths About Couples and Credit

Spouses should help each other build better credit. Just be forewarned that as much as your past good bill-paying habits can bring his credit scores up, his bad habits (left unchanged) can bring yours down.

"The account's history will remain on their credit reports for years to come, so a good history will benefit their future individual scores and a bad history will likely hurt their individual scores until the negative information is eventually removed by the credit-reporting agency," Watts said.

Myth: You should not close joint accounts when divorcing because it will hurt your credit score.

Truth: Closing accounts can make your credit score drop. That's because closing a joint account may affect the credit utilization rate. Credit utilization rate is determined by dividing the outstanding debt by the total available credit for individual accounts and, separately, for all open revolving accounts together.

Once you're headed for a divorce, close joint accounts. Don't be so concerned about your credit score that you put yourself in the position of being responsible for debt incurred by a former spouse.

The point to all this is that the way credit is determined now, you don't lose your credit individuality once you get married.

? On the air: Michelle Singletary discusses personal finance Tuesdays on NPR's "Day to Day" program and online athttp://www.npr.org.

? By mail: Readers can write to her at The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071.

? By e-mail:singletarym@washpost.com.

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