Combining your student loans does not refer to consolidating multiple students into one. What I am talking about is when two people marry and they combine their debt. They decide, well we are married and all of debt should be united also. Don’t combine your student loan debt with your spouse’s student loan debt.
Worse, if you are just cohabiting, you should definitely not even let this cross your mind. Consolidation of any debt or incurring any debt together while you are not legally married is a terrible idea. When you break-up, you are now settled with the other person’s debt. If they fail to pay the debt, the creditors are going to come knocking on your door. As a Christian, I do not advocate cohabitation. If you’re living together, you should stop as it is not what God has designed. Okay, that is all I am going to say on this topic relating to marriage and cohabitation.
Let’s back to the issue of combining your student loans. Let say that your student loan debt is $5,000 but your spouse’s debt is $15,000. When you combine them, even if it’s at a lower interest rate, you now have a combined student loan debt of $20,000. If for some reason you divorce and your ex-spouse fails to pay his/her portion of the debt, guess what, the creditors are going to expect full payment from you not for just your $5,000, but for the entire $20,000. This debt is not dischargeable in bankruptcy. You will have to pay it.
