Generally, married couples do not inherit debt that occurred before the marriage took place. What we mean by this is that if you have student loan debts when you get married, and your partner has some unpaid credit card debts, those debts remain your sole responsibility.  You will not be liable for any debts that occurred before the marriage took place. As well as this, you can continue to take out sole credit and as such, incur sole debts. For example, you can take out a car on finance or get a credit card solely in your name and it will be your sole responsibility The only time debt will be shared within a marriage is if it is a joint debt. This means that if you ever take out a joint loan or credit card, then you will both be liable for any debt incurred. As such, if one member of the partnership dies, the other takes on sole responsibility.  Some States have a law that says both spouses are liable for all debts, even ones that they do not know about. This is known as ‘Community Property’ law and is active in Louisiana, Nevada, Arizona, Idaho, New Mexico, Texas, California, Wisconsin, and Washington.