Marrying partner in financial debt

[GABRIELLA4]

I have a question- I am just curious- My boyfriend is financial debt with credit cards- over $30,000 if we were to get married, how does his financial debt affect our marriage? Is it just we could never put anything joint? Or when you get married does your individual credit scores fluctuate due to the other partners debt?

Thanks

[AJH84]

If you keep all your individual finances completely separate and don't join any accounts together or put both your names on any financial things, such as rent, loans or titles, I don't think his credit score will affect yours. I'm not entirely sure though.

[teko]

When you are married and apply for credit, sometimes such as a car loan, you can get in one or the other or both names thereby it depends whose credit they check.  But remember you must have enough individual income to secure the debt and if you do not you still will not get the loan without reporting the spousal income also.  In the case of a home, you will need both credit scores. If in the event you do not make it and you divorce, all debt is usually handled in a 50-50 situation unless you can prove he had that debt, furniture etc before getting married.  Also any thing considered a gift you can keep also, so just in case keep receipts, cards etc, proving so. If I were you and you have decent credit now, I would hold off getting married until he works on his a little bit because your individual credit worthiness will affect one another and the no one reason couples fight is over money.

[RockRose]

gabriella,  can you wait until he's debt free?  The big picture here,  is usually someone who is so deep in debt poses bigger concerns than just how will it affect your own credit score.  

Is he working to get his debt paid off,  and has he changed the habits that got him here in the first place?

[KikiMay]

I agree with the previous comments. Please keep your finances separated and be very careful on what you plan on doing. Sometimes love is blind but thanks G you ask for suggestions!
Good luck and keep your eyes open

[Trialanderror]

I have no answer on the legal question however I agree with the others here that a debt of that amount speaks volumes about someone`s ability to handle life in general. And after just reading your post below, I can only say, never mind his debt but run!

[katarina777]

I have a friend whose boyfriend is in dept, and she just talked to me about this. She is much older and she has been married many times but that aside. Her last husband died a couple of years ago and she is now in a committed relationship and she would like to get married and he would as well. She told me, though, that he is very reluctant to marry her because of his dept. She has a really good job and he does not work and is disabled . What he owes money on a lot is his old student loans and this was also the case with her previous husband, and di become her problem and he also did not work and she supported him. This boyfriend tells her that he just does not want to involve her as it will. He said even having a pre-nuptual agreement
is no guarantee at all. Nothing is. I figure this. If the man you are getting married to does not have reservations about marrying you like my friend's boyfriend, then you have a problem.

[jo929]

Maybe you can wait until he gets his debts paid off, that is quite a bit of money, and if you marry you may feel honor bound to help him, or hr may insist you help him because when you get married, it is for better or for worse, and i do beleive that he needs to be debt free, so please try to wait, or you will be paying your money to help him      luck  jo

[mami1323]

You see if it was debt because of a house or student loans or something of those sorts I would say go ahead because that is considered good debt but credit card debt that high is scary.  I know I had credit card debt when I was younger because they give them to you right when you hit 18, they stand outside of college campuses so of course you get s ucked right in but it wasn't nearly that high.  Do you know why his cc debt is that extreme?

[jesslee83]

idk, i'd have to say a man who has $30k in cc debt, and *possiby* nothing to show for it, is not what you call "street smart".....and if he works, why was he unable to do some type of debt consolidation or a pogram that could help him settle these debts?as a previous collector, it sounds as though he had SEVERAL cards over limit, and he did alot of balance transfers, which therefore raised his interest and such.....to me, if a man can't pay $300 a month in cc bills(not consecutively, but total), then he can't afford the extra $500+ it would cost for us to live together.....i guess i'm lucky, aside from his debit(check) card, my fiance doesnt believe in "plastic cash", not even in an emergency.....

[SeriousSam]

Don't get married until the finances are straightened out.