Marriage and Debt

Over the past generation or so, a historically high number of marriages have ended in divorce. And a significant number of divorces revolves around money.

The spending habits of a husband or wife can lead their spouse into a financial nightmare. To avoid this fate, both partners need to work together on creating a solid financial core to the marriage.

Money issues can involve bad spending habits or communication issues over money. Be sure to discuss your finances and financial goals. When making large purchases, a good couple should discuss, plan and avoid buying impulsively. Be aware of addictions that might cause financial troubles, such as drugs, gambling or even shopaholism.

A bad thing to do is to keep secrets about spending money. These are trust killers and likely will be discovered sooner or later. As an example, in an Ohio divorce case, a wife took out a $59,000 business loan unbeknownst to her husband. This loan would later become an issue in court. The disagreement over who should repay this amount ended up being ruled on by the Ohio Supreme Court. 

Some of these issues can be sorted out through discussions before marriage. A compatible approach to money and budgeting goes a long way in a marriage. Be aware that people think differently about monetary issues, ranging from investments to vacations. It might be best for you and a potential spouse to sift through how you feel about these things before taking the plunge.

If you would like to see a bad case of mismatched spending habits, take one Indiana case. A wife came into a marriage with $180,000 in assets and virtually no debt. The man she married came into the marriage with debts that he owed. Due to the excessive spending of the husband, her assets nosedived to about $82,000 in less than two years of marriage.