# Should one do a background check on a potential marriage partner?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-one-do-a-background-check-on-a-potential-marriage-partner/729595>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [September 1, 2015, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-one-do-a-background-check-on-a-potential-marriage-partner/729595 "2015-09-01T11:47:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\
**Post date:** [September 4, 2015, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-one-do-a-background-check-on-a-potential-marriage-partner/729595/41 "2015-09-04T23:33:19Z")

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It seems like years ago, when dinosaurs roamed the earth and I was young, you often married someone who grew up in the same town, or who was introduced to you by a friend or family member. So you (or someone you knew well), knew them, their parents, and maybe their grandparents, siblings, aunts and uncles and so on. You knew a lot about their home life, family, some financial information, etc.

That still happens, of course, but it’s not unusual today to marry someone that you don’t know much about. So people got burned back then, and they get burned today, but yeah, I’d check.

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**Author:** ![scootergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@scootergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scootergirl)\
**Post date:** [September 4, 2015, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-one-do-a-background-check-on-a-potential-marriage-partner/729595/42 "2015-09-04T23:48:59Z")

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> [@Urbanredneck](#):
>
> Well I was thinking more on the lines that they had a bad credit score to defaulting on loans or maybe having a bankruptcy.
> 
> Also, never marry a person with debt because their debt now becomes YOUR debt.

This is not accurate information. Not all debt becomes the other spouse’s debt. School loans, for example, are yours and yours alone unless a second party is involved, such as a parent who also took out loans to pay for their kids’ education.

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**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\
**Post date:** [September 5, 2015, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-one-do-a-background-check-on-a-potential-marriage-partner/729595/43 "2015-09-05T15:09:02Z")

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> [@Boyo\_Jim](#):
>
> I’d put it as, "What are the odds of being married to a jerk? Or a cheapskate? Or a liar? Or someone who quotes Oprah??
> 
> Too damn high.

Would any of these things even show up on a background check?

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