Legal Question in Family Law in Massachusetts

: Prior Debt of Fiance

A prenuptial usually deals with assets, alimony, property distribution, but rarely about pre-marriage debts.

If you have a joint account, and the other side gets a judgment, they can go after the funds.

If you need help for a prenup or other matters, contact me.

Re: Prior Debt of Fiance

Unless your fiance has access to the funds, then she and the credit card company can't access them. Your joint account can be accessed by either of you.

Pre-Nups deal with allocation of assets and alimony in the event of divorce. The also can deal with other things as well.

If you want a pre-nuptial agreement please feel free to contact me.

You might however want to discuss with your fiance her credit card debt and determine a way to get rid of it sooner rather than later without using savings.

Good Luck.

Re: Prior Debt of Fiance

The debt issue is going to affect your marriage. You absolutely should draft a pre-nuptial agreement several months before the marriage. It should clearly delineate that you intend that the pre-marriage debts and property will not become part of the marital property for at least twenty years. You should also discuss the family's intention on future debt in the Agreement.

The other two answers are quite correct as to what pre-nups do and are for, although I'm not sure that EITHER mentioned that the pre-existing debt can be allocated to the debtor spouse in a divorce.

Here are the two realities:

1. A pre-nup put in front of a future spouse less than 30 days before a wedding is easily attacked in court.

2. Groucho Marx quipped, "Love flies out the door when money comes innuendo." A marriage in which this issue has been danced around this long -- NOT DISCUSSED AND RESOLVED -- has a REAL communication problem at the very beginning, and is ripe for a divorce within ten years. You would do as well to invest in periodic marriage counseling FROM THE BEGINNING and have an outside debt adviser as a last-minute pre-nup. Maybe better.

I hate to be the Raven qothing "Nevermore," but I hope that this advice prevents the divorce and gets you two on a footing needing no family lawyers.

Re: Prior Debt of Fiance

If you want to ensure that you are not responsible for this premarital debt, I would advise you to have a prenuptial agreement in place before your marriage. Your fiance will not have the ability to access your savings during the marriage unless you give him the authority through your bank. However, should you go through a divorce without a prenuptial agreement, your premarital savings are subject to division by the Family Court as a marital asset.