My daughter in law has $34,000 in student loans, since before she married my son. If she consolidates now, can he be liable?

Your son would only be liable on this debt if he agrees to cosign on it. Although bankruptcy can eliminate many kinds of debts, unless your daughter in law is unlikely to ever work again, such as from a disability, it is unlikely bankruptcy would be able to eliminate the student loan debt. Hope this perspective helps!

The student loans are her separate debt so if she consolidates your son should not be liable. It is not clear from your question if your daughter in law’s student loans are government or private. Student loans cannot be discharged in bankruptcy absent a showing of undue hardship. A federal judge last month ruled that a 45 year old unemployed woman with an income of $10,000 a year did not qualify for cancellation of her $37,000 in student loan debt because she did not meet the test of “undue hardship”. If her loans are Government guaranteed loans she should look into one of the income based repayment plans.

Tennessee, like all states east of the Mississippi except Wisconsin, is a common law state, not a community property state. Thus, you son should not be liable on any loan made in his wife's name only, even if the original loan is generated after they married. Most states have a few statutes that require payment of some necessary expenses, such as medical bills of a spouse or children, but this would not fall in that category. Discharging student loans is extremely difficult, especially if the student loans are federal student loans. I am not aware of the ability to consolidate private student loans, thus the student loans she has must all be federal student loans. After consolidation of the loans, she can then ask to have her loan placed in the income based payment plan. Since the payment is then based upon income of the family, the monthly payment can be as low as $0.00, and the payment is adjusted annually. Some federal student loans are entitled to an administrative discharge outside of bankruptcy, although only a very few student loans will qualify for an administrative discharge. Have your daughter review the websites linked below that will help her to determine if she is eligible for the administrative discharge and/or the income based payment plan and how to apply for them. Finally, tell your daughter-in-law to be careful and limit her searches to sites that are U S Government Sites (i.e xxx.gov). If a company is asking for a significant payment to discharge her debt, she would probably be better served by paying that money towards her student loans. Hopefully, she can find some relief.