That's a good plan for going into the future, but meanwhile, each of you does come into a marriage with your own credit history, and it will affect the success or failure of anything you undertake jointly - such as renting an apartment or buying a car - or a home.

If one of you has good credit scores and the other has poor credit ones, some things should be done ahead of the marriage - things like leasing that house or apartment. The "good credit spouse" may have an easy time of it, while adding the partner's name to the lease could mean rejection.

The same holds true for buying cell phone or satellite TV service, or purchasing a car to be used jointly. Do it before the marriage, so that only the good credit will be seen.

Some mortgage lenders will allow married couples to purchase a home on the strength of one partner's credit report - but in that case they will only recognize income from that partner, so your home choices will be more limited. This could be a blessing in disguise if it forces you to spend less for the home - you'll be in far less danger of feeling like a slave to the house or of losing it if one of you loses your employment or becomes unable to work.

What about credit cards?

While many couples quickly add their spouse to each of their credit card accounts, this may not be a wise move - especially in today's uncertain economic climate, and especially if one spouse has poor credit.

The truth is, every individual should work to maintain his or her own high credit scores, and if both of you can do that, you may be safe with joint accounts. Just make sure that both parties have ownership of at least one account, so that each of you has good credit that stands alone.

No one wants to enter marriage contemplating divorce - or death. But those things do happen, and a spouse left with no credit history of his or her own can find moving forward financially a difficult proposition.