Sorry I was unclear. All our bank accounts are joint and if/when he dies his income still comes to me. We just haven't applied for any credit in my name in the last 8 years, so all my old credit has dropped off the credit bureaus. I checked with the 3 bureaus directly, not through Credit Karma. So what I'm asking is, what's the best/quickest way to reestablish credit if you haven't had any in the last 8 years?

The mtg question was an afterthought. It occurred to me that banks might hesitate to give a 30 year mortgage to a 70yo man. Although, his income is stable and his fico is in the 800s, so maybe age is irrelevant to the mtg lenders?

Age should be irrelevant but some banks look at the spouses income. If you are on the bank account it should be easier. Sign into the bank online. Most banks will have it somewhere on the page "apply for a credit card". I still caution you to have a separate account. Just in case. Long story you will find part in Retirement. Depending on the state and banks joint accounts can be frozen on death. Any house or other bills would not be paid until the legal work starts. Some banks insist on a court order releasing the account each bank is different. ONE THING you MUST have for both of you is a Power of Attorney. When my husband went into the nursing home several things have been frozen and required a court order to do anything with bank or retirement accounts. A conservatorship/guardianship is required without one especially if he becomes disabled or unable to sign things. We had every thing joint but kept individual accounts that started out as play money to use for gifts to each other and splurges. Lucky we did because legally I should not have touched the money in the joint accounts without a court order.

First - Banks can't discriminate on mortgages based on age, so whether your husband is 20 or 90 will not matter.

A few easy ways to build credit

1. The easiest way to build credit is to become a joint user on your husband's credit cards.
2. Get your own credit card with a cosigner - Only a few banks will allow this but Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Discover will allow a cosigner.
3. Apply for secured card - you will have to pay up front but a $500 secured card is an option.
4. Apply for department store cards. Department stores will usually give a very little bit of credit to people with no credit history.

A few things to remember.

1. Every time you apply for credit your score is lowered a little bit but credit utilization is much more important. So you are better off taking the hit and getting a dozen cards that you keep under 10% full.
2. Average age of the your credit is also pretty important. So don't close cards for a while. Also, you are better off getting 12 cards today than 1 card every couple of months for the next 2 years. However, don't apply for cards you might get turned down for, (I wouldn't even apply at your own bank until you have a good idea what will happen) this just means you are taking a score hit without getting a card.
3. Use your cards - 6 months of payment history on several accounts is what you need. So try to keep a small balance on them and make monthly payments.
4. Don't overuse your credit cards - At all costs try to keep the balance below 10% and definitely below 20%.
5. If you can get an installment loan it can be helpful for your credit. Having a car or house payment along with credit cards is helpful, but this is only valuable if you are considering buying a car or house.
6. Keep it going - I have about 10 cards that I charge a monthly meal on and make a payment to, the hardest part is not letting it get away from you by not using the cards at all or overusing them.
7. Getting credit established takes some time and patience but with just a little bit of effort you can get going.

As for the other stuff - Joint accounts are not probated in any state that I know of (they will still be considered part of the estate but not subject to court oversight), nor is property held in joint tenancy or retirement accounts in any state. Banks sometimes request additional documentation such as a death certificate but that is really just bank policy - a letter from an attorney and a call to their legal office will usually fix it. Banks do lots of things that they are not technically allowed to do because their policies address some abuse that has happened in the past.

A POA is a good idea as is setting down with an estate attorney or an accountant who is experienced in estate issues. It is usually a few hundred dollars well spent.

Anyway, best of you luck to you and you can message me for specific information or just post a follow up here.

Bry11, you are correct about not being probated but for some reason some banks will put a temporary hold on an account if they are told one of the owners have died. Which is why I suggested the extra checking account. If the bank finds out on Friday and your attorney is out of town or just not answering their phone and the bank is playing games no money. Bank of America used to do this. It seems like it was a branch by branch thing. I have found out so much since my husband went into the nursing home about what you really need.

A thing to remember is that a Power of Attorney ends with death.

I think it helps understand that this is one of those times that banks are in a tight spot. They implement policies like these in order to discourage fraudulent transactions. However, they usually don't have a legal right to do it (essentially, they are just keeping you from funds that you have a legal right to). Some banks will require that you opt into the right of survivorship to note the difference between an authorized user and a joint owner. This is one of those things that could take a few days to resolve at worst and even then the bank should cover any charges for items it didn't approve.

I am not a huge fan of separate checking accounts personally although I understand the reasoning for it. In order to be properly protected each spouse will need a separate account and the money in your spouse's account will have to go through probate, which may make the funds unavailable for a significant amount of time rather than a couple of days. I think a better option is just keep a bit of cash hidden in the house for emergencies.

Depending on state you can set up some accounts transfer on death which also removes the probate. One of the wrinkles here is that if there is a separate account and there is no will the money in the account must be split in half. Spouse keeps only keeps one half if there are children of any age. At one time it was dependent children or 21 and younger.

If you don't have estate planning done and documents in place, please see a lawyer. It will cost many hundred dollars or more, not a few hundred, if assets are more than just of minor amounts and/or if there are any complications in your personal situations or history.

I don't know why some people have the attitude that a credit score is something akin to a score for a gymnastics routine at the Olympics. If you conduct your personal finances responsibly, pay your bills, and don't over-extend, and you live within your means and always have, it isn't anything you need to pay attention to.

While we would all like credit scores to be based on personal financial responsibility, they simply are not. While the exact calculation of scores are secret, the data selected is not.

It is entirely possible that being financially responsible will yield a good credit score, it is also possible that it will not. Take 100 people that manage their finances responsibly and 95 may also have good credit scores, but 5 will not. The OP is one of those 5.

I hate to use personal anecdotes to support an idea with so much hard data behind it, but here it goes. When I returned from working in the Middle East I returned to a paid off home, I had no US credit cards and my vehicle was paid for. I still had all the normal utility bills and things. So far as I can remember I have never paid a bill late and for sure not in 10 years, my credit absolutely died during this period. I assumed that having a small measure of personal wealth and having no use for credit cards was sufficient. I was shocked when I applied for a home loan. With liquid assets more than 20 times the loan amount, I was initially declined. I had to meet with the VP of lending to get the loan approved and at that time I started researching credit.

I absolutely agree that the current system is broken but there can be little argument on the basis of that system.

Your tale supports what I was saying, because in the end, your mechanical score didn't matter. Maybe others would have stopped before taking it up the line but to me that's the moral of the story.

I had a similar experience when moving back to the US from Europe and also have had many occasions when dealing with a brain-dead droid at a bank required me to escalate my dealings. That problem is the people many banks employ and the rigidity of their policies at first pass, not the credit scoring industry or anyone's individual score.

My score did matter in the form of an interest rate penalty. Managing my credit score has had a positive impact on my finances. Others may have different experiences. I now maintain my score with very little effort and no real cost.

Your score does matter and things that you think are good can lower it. When I paid off my last car it dropped my credit score 5 points. Because of the drop my insurance, through AAA, went up 10%.

happydog, it is important that you have a credit score. Are you a member of a credit union? If not, I strongly urge you to join a credit union in your own name. A local credit union or Navy Federal Credit Union (NFCU) if you are eligible. NFCU has a fair number of paths to be eligible to join; you can research it or send me a private message via this site. Once you are an approved member of a credit union, apply for one of their non-fee credit cards in your own name. This, IMO, is the quickest way to start your journey into earning your own credit score. Good luck.

Insurers selling policies in California aren't permitted to use a credit score factor for premiums.

The mortgage lending market is very competitive. Someone who finds they aren't getting a well priced offer can spend more time finding alternative funding sources.