Want to marry him...but not his debt!

tracy_lou

Can anyone advise me about liability in marriage?

My husband to be has a large debt to Inland Revenue going back nearly ten years. He is not able to pay it off as he is low paid worker. He is re-training with a view to getting a higher paid job. This will take some time, but he does plan to pay it off.

In the meantime, where do I stand in relation to this debt when we get married? Will I be liable for this?

RAS

No.

It is his debt not yours and you are not liable.

But if he is a low earner and is paying back HMRC, this will impact on your personal finances as he will have less to contribute.

Do not get joint accounts.

January20

You also have to think about things like needing a mortgage as the mortgage company would take all debts into consideration.

VfM4meplse

RAS wrote: »

Do not get joint accounts.

Excellent advice. I would think very seriously about marrying a bad financial prospect, not just because of the debt that needs to be managed, but because of the path that led to it in the first place.

tracy_lou

VfM4meplse wrote: »

Excellent advice. I would think very seriously about marrying a bad financial prospect, not just because of the debt that needs to be managed, but because of the path that led to it in the first place.

lol
He does have his uses though...he's a great cook!

That's good news about his debt. I assume I should behave as if I am a singleton then? Own account, no married tax allowance etc etc...

nearlyrich

tracy_lou wrote: »

lol
He does have his uses though...he's a great cook!

That's good news about his debt. I assume I should behave as if I am a singleton then? Own account, no married tax allowance etc etc...

Sadly there is no married tax allowance unless you were over 65 when they scrapped it a few years ago so you are not losing out there;)

MrsTinks

It means you should not have ANY joint financial products including savings accounts, bank accounts, loans or mortgages...
No you'd never be liable for his debts BUT it would affect your credit worthyness. Being married however doesn't automatically make you liable for his debts...

Broken_hearted

If you loved him you would help pay it off. It is not as if this is a debt from spend money on junk like a lot are.
Maybe now is the wrong time for you to be marrying anyone.

viktory

I must be very old fashioned - I married my husband because I loved him - warts and all. Still, he is a 'bad debt' so perhaps you should look for a better prospect.

aliasojo

viktory wrote: »

I must be very old fashioned - I married my husband because I loved him - warts and all. Still, he is a 'bad debt' so perhaps you should look for a better prospect.

Perhaps if more people were mindful of the practical aspects of relationships, there would be less issues to cause problems in the future?

I've been round the block once or twice and whilst I used to think with my heart and believed the whole 'love conquers all' thing, my head now beats it hands down. :rolleyes:

Relationships are hard enough without adding extra concerns into the equation and if someone feels this kind of thing is worthy of consideration to them now, then at least they are going in with their eyes open and can be somewhat prepared. There's nothing wrong in trying to clarify what may affect you in the future.

However, that said, I agree with BH who suggested perhaps you could now help him, OP?

B2B-2008

If my husband thought like this I would still be single :rotfl:

As long as he knows about his debt issue and is trying to sort it out I don't see what the problem is. Would be a different matter if he had his head stuck in the sand. Everyone comes with some type of history.