Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Pennsylvania

Re: marry into debt

OK, some this more of marriage counseling than legal.

Yes, you can draw up a contract about this issue. $10K is really nothing as far as I've seen. You and he should develop a plan to deal with this.

But more important is how HE is dealing with this. Has he continued to get himself into a worse position or is he working on getting himself out?

How he has dealt with money is not going to change without a lot of effort and planning on both your parts. You need to educate yourself about dealing with money and develop a budget that includes getting out of debt and also that plans for financial health (savings, investments, goals).

Money issues are more of a taboo subject in most relationships than the kinkiest of sexual requests. This is wrong, sex is just a small portion of a relationship and money is a huge factor. If you think about it, you will never have a major fight because of bad sex, but pay one bill late...

There are consumer credit counseling services that can help you develop a plan to get back on track. They can also provide a fair amount of education. BUT, sometimes signing up with these services shows up on a credit record. If he has bad credit already then that will be a good mark on his credit record, but it wouldn't be a good mark on your record if you still have good credit. In other words, get him to sign up and you'll just be standing by him.

If you get married, make sure that for at least the first few years you manage your accounts separately until you are sure he can manage money properly. This mean you have three separate checking accounts, yours, his and ours. He should not have any access to your account or the "ours account." You should have access to his account so you can monitor what he is doing. This is not to suggest that you should keep anything from him, just the opposite. You should keep your records out in the open. Discuss what is going where and why. But he shouldn't have any ability to move or spend money out of the two accounts.

Good luck, and please remember to contact me when you need those documents prepared. Don't forget that as soon as you get married you will need estate planning (wills, power of attorney, etc.).

Regards,

Roger Traversa

email: [email protected]