My fiancé has student loans.

[Cecilia sernaque 0]

Hello! My fiancé has student loans, we are planning to get married but We have been talking about this topic and I want to know if there is a document that we should make before we get married because we want to have independant debts.

[geowrian 22,337]

Prenuptials are something to be discussed with an attorney. Enforcement of them can be very difficult without professional assistance.

 

Depending on your state, assets and liabilities prior to marriage may remain separate.

A fairly brief overview is here: https://family.findlaw.com/marriage/what-s-mine-is-mine-what-s-yours-is-mine-who-owns-what-in.html

 

Speak to an attorney for specifics and how they apply to your circumstances and goals.

[Loren Y 2,755]

Just know in advance it is going to cost a few thousand dollars to get something set up. Just so you don't get sticker shock when you call the first attorney.

[databit 328]

Even if you can successfully separate your debts, once you are a married couple you cannot separate income. If your spouse gets behind in payments, your joint income will be looked at, and that income can be attached. When I married, my spouse was in default for a federal student loan. As required, we notified the government agency of the marriage. Then I got a letter---addressed only to me. It said that since we now made enough money as a couple (I had a good job) they would be garnishing my wages. I paid off the balance in full from my savings. 

 

 

[carmel34 3,635]

14 hours ago, Cecilia sernaque said:

Hello! My fiancé has student loans, we are planning to get married but We have been talking about this topic and I want to know if there is a document that we should make before we get married because we want to have independant debts.

Once you are married, how you manage your finances, jointly or separately, is completely up to you.  Some maintain separate banking accounts, for example, but for US immigration it is wise to have at least one joint account for household expenses as it shows co-mingling of finances and bona fide marriage for AOS, ROC, and citizenship applications.  Who pays for what, how the student loan is paid, sharing of various expenses and how the income of the married couple as a whole is used is something you and your finance work out together and there are lots of different ways you can do it, no document is needed to work all of this out--you will be married, both grown adults, you can figure it out, that is part of life. 

 

If you're worried about what might happen if the marriage ends--that is, if you might be held financially responsible for paying off part of your husband's student loan after divorce---check your state laws about this.  Here in California, any assets or debts of each partner before marriage is separate from assets or debts accumulated during the marriage, so he would continue to be 100% responsible for the student loan if your marriage ends in divorce before it is paid off, unless you work out a different arrangement through the divorce process.  A pre-nup, a legal document you both agree to and sign before marriage, might help protect you in those states that do not have separate property divorce laws, but in most states a pre-nup is not necessary to protect debts and assets from before the marriage.

 

In my opinion, a pre-nup is only needed in states without separate property divorce laws and in special cases where there is a lot of income or assets (i.e., multi-millions).  Doing a pre-nup for a normal couple is unnecessary and only sets up the marriage for failure.  Learning to trust each other is what makes a marriage strong, so if you don't trust each other, a pre-nup is not going to help with that.  It's like starting a marriage with divorce in mind.