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I have a good income, no debt, and excellent credit. She has bad credit, credit card and a student loan from an attempt at college. We're never using her credit ever again. Would anything bad happen if we just ignored her debt(mostly student loans) if all the assets were in my name and the liabilities were in her name only?
She's planning on just staying home and having a kid so she wouldn't have any source of income that could be garnished or intercepted and we have agreed that I would be responsible for the finances since I have a history of financial and career responsibility.
Last edited by yin2lazy; 05-26-2013 at 03:39 AM..
Reason: adding detail
I have a good income, no debt, and excellent credit. She has bad credit, credit card and a student loan from an attempt at college. We're never using her credit ever again. Would anything bad happen if we just ignored her debt(mostly student loans) if all the assets were in my name and the liabilities were in her name only?
She's planning on just staying home and having a kid so she wouldn't have any source of income that could be garnished or intercepted and we have agreed that I would be responsible for the finances since I have a history of financial and career responsibility.
Student loan debts are almost impossible to get rid of, even in bankruptcy. I won't even get into how unethical it is to just blow off your debts (which it is).
Besides the above issues...are you really sure you want to marry someone who bad credit? Money is one of the biggest issues people fight about and it sounds like you two probably have very different attitudes toward handling money that could lead to a lot of conflict. I also think walking out on financial commitments is a bad sign for your marriage. When people walk away from smaller commitments, they are also apt to walk away from bigger ones.
Last edited by mysticaltyger; 05-26-2013 at 05:17 AM..
My reply is similar to the post above: the number one reason married couples get divorced is over financial situations.
If you really want to live with this person the rest of your life, make sure you have already sat down with her and agree on both of your financial obligations. If there are many areas you do not agree right now, just think how worse it will be down the road as your family grows.
You can buy a house or a car without her name on the loan, but you both should have very similar financial goals and try to pay back the debt. I am assuming you are in the US, just like the other poster said, your significant other will have to pay back the student loans even if she filed bankruptcy.
Student loan debts are almost possible to get rid of, even in bankruptcy. I won't even get into how unethical it is to just blow off your debts (which it is).
Besides the above issues...are you really sure you want to marry someone who bad credit? Money is one of the biggest issues people fight about and it sounds like you two probably have very different attitudes toward handling money that could lead to a lot of conflict. I also think walking out on financial commitments is a bad sign for your marriage. When people walk away from smaller commitments, they are also apt to walk away from bigger ones.
I believe in taking care of my debts which I do in full every month. However if they're not my technically my debts than I don't see how I would have a obligation to pay and from my research the individual debts from before the marriage would not combine.
We have been together since high school and I fully agree with what you said. We have discussed this alot recently and she has been able to stick to a budget. We have agreed that I would just add her as an authorized user to one of my cards with a limit that would allow for household expenses and a reasonable amount for shopping.
My thing right now is if she has no official income is there anyway it would affect us as a family.
Last edited by yin2lazy; 05-26-2013 at 05:18 AM..
Reason: add more detail
I believe in taking care of my debts which I do in full every month. However if they're not my technically my debts than I don't see how I would have a obligation to pay and from my research the individual debts from before the marriage would not combine.
We have been together since high school and I fully agree with what you said. We have discussed this a lot recently and she has been able to stick to a budget. We have agreed that I would just add her as an authorized user to one of my cards with a limit that would allow for household expenses and a reasonable amount for shopping.
My thing right now is if she has no official income is there anyway it would affect us as a family.
You are thinking like a single person and not like someone who is about to get married. There is no "mine" and "hers" when you are married. It's all "yours" whether you like it or not. I am not talking of the specific legalities, mind you (as I don't know the laws in your state)...but this type of stuff WILL have an effect on you in one way or another. (If she ends up stuck with paying student loans that are in arrears or gets in legal trouble down the line...do you think this won't affect you? Really?) If you can't handle that, then you shouldn't marry her. It doesn't matter that you've been together since high school or not.
Bottom line is her debts (and the spending/thinking patterns that led to them) will have an effect on you in one way or another. Count on it. As I already mentioned, it's almost impossible to get rid of student loan debt these days. But I suspect her spending patterns will affect both of you in other ways as well. The fact that she doesn't want to pay off the debts that she incurred (and that you're going along with it) is not a good sign for you financially or for any potential marriage.
I am also curious as to how long she's been able to stick to the budget? Do you two sit down and plan out your financial goals and priorities?
Debt should never interfere with love. If you love a person, then her problems are your problems. You take them on like Jesus Christ took the problems of the world on his shoulders. That is what love is about!
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Affect you as a family, maybe not. She might get sued and that would be a stressful time in both of your lives but they can't take your money, in a community property state (CA right?) or in a non community property state, for debts that she racked up before the marriage. You would also have to file taxes as married filing separately.
The biggest downfall would be is if sometime down the road something happens to you, s*** happens yanno. She and your child will be basically destitute, at least at first and possibly for a long time. Mothers and children end up in homeless shelters every day, even ones who at one time had a financially good, sound life.
Since everything would be in your name only, then (even if she's in your will as the beneficiary) she would have no immediate funds to buy food, to pay the mortgage/rent, etc., until the estate is settled and IF there is anything left after everyone dips their fingers into it. If your renting then she'd probably get kicked out since she wouldn't be able to pay the rent. If you're buying a home and car then the home and car, and anything else in your name that is worth anything, would have to be sold to pay off the creditors (home, car, credit cards, etc), then there would be the inheritance tax that would come out of it, then the fed will take their cut for the student loan, and if the collector has a judgment the collector will take their share. She, and your child, may easily end up penniless. Plus, being off work for awhile she may only qualify for minimum wage jobs and resorting to living in a run down apt.
Since you want no part of her debt I would suggest that before you two start planning to have kids, she gets a job and what she makes off of that job goes to pay off her debts. That way she would be debt free and her name could be on the house, the car, the bank account, etc.
You are thinking like a single person and not like someone who is about to get married. There is no "mine" and "hers" when you are married. It's all "yours" whether you like it or not. I am not talking of the specific legalities, mind you (as I don't know the laws in your state)...but this type of stuff WILL have an effect on you in one way or another. (If she ends up stuck with paying student loans that are in arrears or gets in legal trouble down the line...do you think this won't affect you? Really?) If you can't handle that, then you shouldn't marry her. It doesn't matter that you've been together since high school or not.
Bottom line is her debts (and the spending/thinking patterns that led to them) will have an effect on you in one way or another. Count on it. As I already mentioned, it's almost impossible to get rid of student loan debt these days. But I suspect her spending patterns will affect both of you in other ways as well. The fact that she doesn't want to pay off the debts that she incurred (and that you're going along with it) is not a good sign for you financially or for any potential marriage.
I am also curious as to how long she's been able to stick to the budget? Do you two sit down and plan out your financial goals and priorities?
If she has no income and her student loans are not in default, she can get into Income Based Repayment and qualify for a monthly payment of zero (redetermined annually based on income). I'm not aware if a spouse's income is considered if the borrower marries.
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