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they legally share equal responsibility for account 
payments.  Because there is shared responsibility, joint 
user accounts can help women build their own credit 
histories.  However, joint user accounts also link a woman's 
credit history to her husbands.  This means that if a 
woman's husband abuses a joint credit account, the adverse 
account information will appear m her credit history as well 
as his. 
·	Individual. If a woman's accounts are designated as 
individual, she has sole responsibility for payments and is 
the only person authorized to use the account.  Women with 
individual accounts qualified for that credit without their 
husbands.  Individual accounts place women in the strongest 
financial position if their marital status changes, since 
individual accounts do not link her use of credit or her 
ability to obtain credit to her spouse's income and credit 
history. 
Property States
It is important for women living in a community property 
state to realize that they will not necessarily enjoy the 
benefits of separate credit and will be less able to 
insulate themselves from any money troubles that their 
husbands or former husbands may have.  Community property 
states are: 
·	Arizona
·	California
·	Idaho
·	Louisiana
·	Nevada
·	New Mexico
·	Texas
·	Washington
·	Wisconsin
The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico also has community property 
laws. 
In these states, husbands and wives are viewed as economic 
partners, and the earnings and property of each spouse are 
considered to be jointly held and controlled.  Therefore, a 
husband and wife are equally liable for one another's debt, 
and credit grantors may take legal action against a wife's 
property to collect a debt her spouse incurs and does not 
pay and vice versa. 
When a woman applies for credit in her own name in a 
community property state, the creditor may ask her marital 
status and request information about her husband-if he is 
going to be contractually liable for a debt or if she is 
relying on his income to help make the payments.  However, 
if half of a woman's community property and income qualifies 
her for the credit she's applying for, her husband does not 
have to cosign even though the creditor still has the right 
to collect information about him. 
If a woman living in a community property state posts 
property that is jointly owned by her husband and herself as 
collateral, a creditor may require that her husband sign on 
the note on the mortgage or deed of trust even if the woman 
will be solely responsible for repayment.  However, a 
woman's husband cannot be required to cosign the bank note 
unless he is going to be specifically obligated to help 
repay the debt. 
Separate States
Most states are separate property states where the credit 
history of a woman's husband is irrelevant to her request 
for credit since by law she alone is responsible for making 
payments on any debt she incurs in her name.  In these 
states, a husband is not required to cosign a credit 
application, and creditors are barred from asking about a 
woman's marital status. 
Exceptions do apply when property is involved.  When a woman 
wants to finance the purchase of property in her own name 
and she posts collateral, the creditor may require that her 
spouse cosign the note. (The same would hold true if the 
husband purchased property in his own name.) By having the 
spouse cosign, the creditor is ensuring that the property 
can be taken back and sold to recover its costs if one 
spouse defaults.  A creditor also may require that a spouse 
sign a security agreement or a quit claim deed so that it 
can repossess the property should the owner spouse default. 
For specific information about marital property rights in 
your state, contact the office of your state's attorney 
general or your state's office of consumer affairs. 
Women's Individual Credit
Having good individual credit provides women several 
important benefits both in and out of marriage.  First, if a 
woman's husband experiences financial difficulty and has 
trouble paying his bills or if he is a poor money manager 
and doesn't make account payments on time, her good credit 
will remain unblemished although his may be damaged.  This 
would not be the case if the woman and her husband shared 
the accounts he was not paying on a timely basis. 
Second, a woman with her own credit is better able to 
maximize her family's financial options and opportunities.  
This ability can be especially important if a woman's spouse 
gets into financial trouble, loses his job or becomes 
seriously ill and has to stop working.  In such situations, 
a woman with her own credit will be able to provide her 
family with greater alternatives for dealing with difficult 
financial problems. 
Third, as discussed earlier, women with their own credit 
identities will be better able to create a positive fife for 
themselves after separation, divorce or widowhood. 
When building credit, your ultimate goal should be to obtain 
individual credit in your own name.  Joint credit should be 
kept to an absolute minimum.  Realistically, however, if you 
have little or no individual credit to start with, you 
initially may need to apply for joint credit with your 
husband as a means of building your file and then, once a 
good payment history is established on those accounts, use 
them to get individual credit.  However, this approach 
should be pursued only if you feel absolutely confident that 
your husband will not abuse the credit, thereby damaging 
your credit history and his at the same time.  Shared credit 
should be viewed only as a means to an end-individual 
credit. 
Women's Credit and Money Management
There are a number of ways that women can educate themselves 
about money matters.  This can include taking courses at a 
local community college or university, contacting the area 
Consumer Credit Counseling office to find out if they offer 
any courses in money management and understanding credit and 
reading books and magazines on these subjects. 
Another educational resource is the American Association of 
Retired Persons (AARP) that sponsors the Women's Financial 
Information Program (WFIP), a seven-week program 
specifically designed for middle-aged and older women.  WFIP 
teaches money management skills and helps women develop the