'Til Debt Do Us Part

Posted on Thursday, June 16, 2011

I am 26 years old and marriage is all around me. Yes, I am at the age where every week a friend calls screaming in excitement about her engagement. Many of my friends are also obtaining higher degrees from graduate programs, like me as well, and have loan payments looming over them after graduating. So, what happens to this debt after you marry? Are you alone legally bound to pay it, or is your future husband marrying you and your debt? What happens if the marriage ends? Who ends up paying?

In Mississippi, student loans accumulated before marriage are considered premarital debt. Thus, the spouse who accumulates the debt will be responsible for it in the event of a divorce. However, what happens if a couple gets married while in graduate school? Most likely, the loans taken out after the marriage will become marital property and both spouses will be responsible for paying it.

There are cases when premarital debt may be considered marital debt instead. In Kay v. Kay, the Mississippi Court of Appeals supported a chancellor’s decision finding a husband’s student loan debt was marital property. 12 So.23d 622, 627 (2009). It found that “some of the student loan proceeds were expended for family needs” such as for gas and groceries. Id. The husband also testified that he accumulated ninety percent of the debt after the marriage. Id. Therefore, after their divorce the wife was ordered to pay twenty percent of her husband’s student loan debt. Id.

So what can you take from this? If you are married and considering going back to school, your spouse may be liable in the future for the student debt you incur. But if you are in the exciting engagement stage and in school, you should find out if your debt will be considered marital or premarital.

Meredith Price