Soon to be married, Fiance has a judgement....

[Bassgirl]

H

[JRScott]

MO is not a community property state.

1. It will still affect him and thus indirectly you.
2. No
3. If you file jointly they'll take it still to satisfy his debt.
4. Having both your names on a title/debt is the most likely way.

[FreshLikeADaisy]

Bassgirl, I commend you on trying to settle this before tying the knot.

However, look very carefully at the fact that, regardless of the causative factors, you will be marrying someone with horrible credit: he may be a great guy, but wrong financial decisions on your part can bring yours right down the same hole as well. It sounds from what you wrote that you are taking on the big project of rescuing his pre-existing financial mess, which is great, but can be absolutely deadly if you overextend your own reach while doing so.

Please consider keeping separate bank accounts -- at the very least, a small savings account of your own that is entirely separate, preferably at a different bank, and the existence of which you keep to yourself -- and know upfront that if you apply for any sort of joint credit with him, even a lease, you are joining your perfect credit to his horrible credit. Whatever the causative factors were that got him into this in the past, you have to accept that if they reoccur and you are holding credit jointly with him, your own credit will also be destroyed. Even if you personally make enough to cover your own debts, chances are good that you do not make enough to easily cover ALL the debt, yours and his and jointly held. If he should ever decide that he is unhappy or doesn't want to stay in the relationship, and thus he decides not to pay the jointly held debt, you will be held responsible for ALL of it.

I know that as you approach marriage this is probably not the way you'd like to look at this situation, and that he has given you every assurance that his financial problems are over. But this has happened to far too many well meaning spouses, who were also given similar assurances, to assume that it would not happen to you as well. So keep those accts separate (at least for the first couple of years), make sure you have a savings acct in your name only *just in case*, and do not lightly take on debt jointly that you personally could not pay on your own. There are no guarantees in life.

If you do these things, and it turns out that this guy is as honest as the day is long, you will both enjoy a higher standard of living because your eventual debt to income ration will be very low, and you'll have the cash to do what you want to do, instead of being tied to old debt that never seems to go away. But if -- God forbid -- this guy splits at some point and leaves you high and dry with all the bills, doing these things will save your credit rating AND your sanity, and protect you from ever having to file bankruptcy yourself. So either way, you win.

My best wishes to you both -- good luck!!!

[treehugger1]

I agree on several of the points presented. I have shared "space" and life with my opposite-sex "roommate" for nearly two decades. Eight years ago, I had the credit score of 800 and she had the credit score of 400. Now, this is reversed. We don't share credit and we don't share bank accounts. Ten years ago we did, but as we each helped our separate children and aging parents work through issues, we realized that separate financial accounts were in both our best financial interests. I do not live in a community property state, and in fact, my state does not recognize common-law marriage, for the age-old reason that state law already recognizes marriage between opposite sexes, but not same-sexes.

There are many things one might want to think about in terms of dealing with a spouse/partner's debt load. While it might be noble to help another pay off their debt, I would be leary about having yourself become any part of a legal binding finaicial contract. It could very well be the casse that only one of you will have great credit (you, in this case,) and the other will have terrible credit. Can this hurt you? Yes, should you apply for a mortgage, it is unlikely that your spouse's income will be taken into account when considering a mortgage. In my humble opinion, this is not such a bad thing! Mortgage affordability based on ONE income is a solid goal.

Be careful that in any quest to "help" out your partner, you do not wind up with two poor credit reporting lines. I would keep your current debts in the original names, and not set up a situation that suggests the other party has a responsibility to the other's debts.

As to how others "find out" you are married, once you sign and file a wedding license, you are now part of a public record.

In terms of credit, I believe the spouse/partner does not show up on a credit report unless they are listed on an account, an application for credit, etc.

Being married does not imply you need to "marry" your finances. You might be best keeping everything separate until you can see solid progress being made.

Again, this is just my opinion.

[Bassgirl]

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