Legal Question in Family Law in Pennsylvania

Assuming that the girlfriend and your son continue to live in an equitable distribution state (there are only 9 community property states - they are California, Arizona, Washington, Idaho, Nevada Louisiana, New Mexico, Texas, and Wisconsin), then the answer is he is not liable and he does not need a pre-nuptial agreement. He may need a pre-nup for other reasons but not not to protect himself from debts. And I am not admitted in any community property state so I can't be sure about this but I am not sure that a pre-nup would help protect him if he went there.

It is better for the girl-friend to resolve her debts BEFORE she gets married to your son. How the girlfriend wants to go about that is up to her. I have some ideas but it depends on the amount of her debt and what she wants to do, i.e., file bankruptcy or resolve them by paying. Of course, it depends on whether the statute of limitations has run or when it will run.

For college loans, these generally are not dischargeable in bankruptcy. If they are government/federal loans, then there is no statute of limitations. But if they are private then there is (generally 4 years in PA). Charge cards are dischargeable.

Please have the girlfriend contact me at [email protected]. She should also visit my website at www.rachelhunterlaw and http://lawyernext.com/profile/RachelHunter to read some articles I've written which may be useful to her in deciding what she wants to do about her debt.