Child support/student loan debt from Fiance

You likely would not be legally responsible for the child support arrears or the student loans. However, you may become practically involved.

For example, if the two of you have a joint account, the creditors can attach all the money in that account.

If the two of you buy a house, the creditors can win a judgment and place a lien against the house. If you do not have too much equity in your principal residence, the lien may not have an immeditate effect because of the exemption by WA law.

If you file a joint tax return, your joint refund would be intercepted. You can file additional tax forms to reduce the amount of the intercept.

By keeping your finances entirely separate, you may reduce most of the potential problems.

The debts likely will not disappear on their own. What is his plan to eliminate them?

The other attorney has hit the answer right on. As your fiance's future wife, you will likely 'commingle' your finances, which places you in the position of being hit with his bills. That is not necewssarily a bad deal, as I'm sure you have debts of your own, but the back child support can be considerable. Fiance needs to know where he stands on that issue in particular, and if he doesn't have a repayment plan in place, he should set one up. That will help to keep DCSS from acting against you (such as taking funds from your joint account), so long as he keeps the agreement. It's good that you two are being open about your financial situations before you're married so that you can come up with a sound plan that benefits you both, and eases stress on your mariage as a result. Good luck to you!