<prompt> Human: Ok. My boyfriend and I have lived together for almost 5 years. We are both 27, Im on the verge of turning 28. He is very against marriage, in a kind of I dont need a piece of paper to prove I want to be with you! kind of way. And I, well, I dont know how I feel about marriage. I used to be against it, then when our relationship got more serious and all my friends started getting married and I started thinking about the possibility of it, but Im not sold on the idea yet. He has a small melt down every time I bring up the subject. Sometimes he says he does want to get married when we get our shit together. I dont know if there is a point in waiting to get married, or if it makes any kind of difference.Info about us: he has a bachelors degree in a field that he is not currently using and I think he has about 80,000 in student loans Im not sure, he also doesnt like talking about his finances so this is my best guess from clues he has dropped. his credit score is in the 500s. He had a few old bills that are in collections from before we met. I currently have about 14,000 in credit card debt. A few cards are enrolled in a debt consolidation program as of a year and a half ago, but not all of them. I have a mortgage in my name with my mom I dont live in this house, its currently rented. my credit score used to be much higher, in the high 700s, but as I maxed out more cards and I think after doing consolidated credit it went down to about 680 now.Boyfriend and I both work full time for a high end retail store and each make approx 35,000 to 37,000 a year. Neither of us has any sort of money in savings or emergency fund. We currently live in a small condo that we rent from my parents because they charge us the minimum and its all we can afford for now. I feel like we make decent money for our pretty simple lifestyle, but we each spend so much in debt payments every month almost as much as our rent and living expenses, that we live almost paycheck to paycheck.So, before my boyfriend and I keep arguing about whether or not marriage is a good or bad idea for us, I want to know the facts: what the hell does marriage actually mean for people our financial situation?I always heard people say I want to get married for the financial benefits but then I heard that when you marry someone you acquire all of their debt, which sounds terrible to me and I dont want that for either of us.Sorry for the ignorant question. Im sure its a complicated answer, but I want a general idea from someone who understands more than me. Thanks.Tldr: what does marriage actually affect in regards to a persons finances? Are there any actual benefits to getting married? Is marriage a bad idea for people who are in a lot of debt?Edit: I wanted to clarify since I probably made our relationship sound worse than it is. My boyfriend is against marriage, and we have a few times discussed why, and it is mostly because he is troubled by his parents bad divorce. His father had two failed marriages and died alone, estranged from all his children. BF has a very dismal view of marriage and families because of it and is afraid that if we get married we will just end up divorced eventually. Which I understand even though I disagree. Also, He doesnt refuse to talk about his finances, he is just very ashamed of his situation and afraid that he cant dig himself out so he could rather not talk about it. Hes a funny and silly guy who just prefers to not talk about serious things, but he isnt incapable of it. This is going to sound like Im joking, but he is like a real life version of nick miller on the show new girl. Just more down to earth.Edit 2: WOW! Ok, I did not expect such a big response to this. I have gotten so many informative and interesting answers, and even the responses that challenge my opinions are helpful. So, thank you!I want to try clarifying again, because Im a jackass and I realize that the way I type and describe my boyfriend and our situation doesnt come across the same way as it does if I were to say it with my real life voice and sarcastic or ironic inflection. He doesnt like talking about his money or marriage, because I tend to be obnoxious and ask the same thing over and over and over again and he gets tired of hearing it, which is why he usually shuts me down, because hes tired of me going on about it. We HAVE had serious talks about money, marriage, kids, and our plans to move and try to by a home long term plan, hopefully in 5 years. We both think marriage is antiquated and unnecessary. Hes openly been against it since before we dated, its not something hes just saying because hes not committed to me. In the last 2 years hes gone from no, never, marriage is stupid to to you... yeah... but not until we get our shit straight. I only became more curious about marriage because as Ive gotten older and more friends have married, Ive wondered if its something our financial situation could benefit from. He has told my best friend, in confidence and on multiple emotional occasions, that he really does want to marry me. I think he may try to avoid the subject because he doesnt find it romantic to constantly talk and plan it like a business deal, but thats all I see it as. I will seriously die if he does a cutesy surprise proposal and buys me an expensive ring. No. Do not want! Nor do I want a fairytale princess wedding. Gah! No! Waste of money! If he does want to get married, I want to have a long, drawn out discussion about it, have a detailed prenup, head to the courthouse, and be done with it. Maybe have a backyard party to celebrate and a gift registry because why not? He is caring and supportive. Weve been through a lot, he has his selective immaturity but so do I. Last year we I went through something awful and got myself in legal trouble, and he could have easily said no thanks, Im done with you and that event was followed by 2 months of awful things like our 1 car being broken for weeks, my grandma almost dying, all our plumbing in our home breaking, And me having my drivers license suspended. Hes been driving me to work, doctors appointments, friends houses and all my bullshit errands since last September without a single complaint. We survived all of that without ever questioning our relationship. A few months ago I complained about him always leaving dirty dishes in the sink. He started cleaning the sink and loading the dishwasher every night since then. He wakes up before me most mornings and walks the dogs, feeds them, and makes us coffee and breakfast because he knows Im horrible at mornings. Hes not perfect, but hes not a monster either. Same goes for me. we both do our part and are trying to figure out how to be grown ups.Anyway: Im rambling. I assure you all, the state of our relationship is not in question here, only whether or not we have anything to gain from making it legal. I even told him I had posed this question to reddit and he was very intrigued when I told him we would not necessarily accrue each others debt if we married. Again, thank you everyone for your responses. I have tons to think about now and more to research, but I have a good starting point now.  <response>: Remember, there is government marriage and there is religious marriage. All the government needs is a form and a fee sometimes less. No ceremony is required. A justice of the peace will probably cost 50 or so. It is not required to have an expensive ceremony with all your friends and relatives getting drunk off booze youre paying for. If he is committed to you then an hours worth of his time to fill out paper work will make it official in the governments eyes. As stated in posts, there are real legal benefits for doing this. However, there is probably going to be some tax ramifications that might show up. 