Am I responsible for paying my new husbands past tax debt?
Well, you guys are married now. It sucks that he came into the marriage with debt from the past, but if you plan to be with him, it has become your debt as well. If they don’t take the money now, you will be making many other future payments and if you are sharing money, then you will be paying it anyway. I would go ahead and get it paid back as soon as possible, so you don’t have to deal with it in the future.
When you married him, you married his debt too. Filing separately is legal, and would allow you to get a return, even though he has the debt. Ultimately, though, it’s both of your finances that are going to have to pay his old debt. So, even if you get a return, you’ll have to spend money to pay back the govt. And we all know that they will get their money. With the tax cut you get for getting married, it’ll be a good idea to still file jointly, take the hit to your taxes, and be that much closer to getting that old debt settled.
