A good credit history is a record of how you paid past bills. Often it is necessary to get credit. Unfortunately, this hurts many married, separated, divorced, and widowed women.

There are two common reasons women don't have credit histories in their own names:

• They lost their credit histories when they married and changed their names;
• Creditors reported accounts shared by married couples in the husband's name only.

If you're married, divorced, separated, or widowed, contact your local credit bureau(s) to make sure all relevant information is in a file under your own name.

This information is adapted from "Bound for Good Credit" published by the Federal Trade Commission.