If the name on your account changes, lenders may appraise the application and credit line to decide if your qualifications meet the credit standards. You may be asked to reapply. To avoid inconvenience, maintain credit in your own name. Preserving your own, separate, credit history makes things easier in the future. In an emergency, if you need credit, it will be available. Avoid using your spouse's name - i.e. Mrs. Peter Johnson - for purpose of credit. Get an update on your credit report. Be sure that your name, as well as your spouse's, is being reported correctly. If you would like to use your spouse's credit history to your benefit, simply write a letter to the credit agency and request that both names be put on the account. Find out if there is any incomplete or inaccurate data in your account. Send the credit bureau a letter asking them to correct this information. They need to confirm receipt within a normal time period and inform you when the mistake is fixed. Improving your own credit history in your name should be simple if you have been sharing accounts with your spouse. Make a call to a major credit bureau and ask for copies of your account information. Get in touch with the issuers of the cards with whom you share accounts with your spouse and request to have your name on the account as well.