1. Module Number 5 Married Borrowers and Repayment
Paul S. Garrard
Founder and President, PGPresents, LLC
Independent Student Loan Consulting
Spring 2019
2019 PGPresents, LLC - All Rights Reserved

2. In this module Impact of marital and tax filing status on IDR plans
Community property states
Married borrowers and refinancing with private lenders
Estimating payments for married borrowers

3. Federal repayment plans
Time driven
Marital and tax filing status have nothing to do with calculation of monthly payments
Income driven
Marital and tax filing status may impact calculation of monthly payments, depending on plan chosen

4. IDRs and marital status
IBR (2009)
PAYE (2012)
REPAYE (2015)
Type loans
FFEL and Direct
Direct Loans only
Trigger date
None, all borrowers may apply
New borrowers as of October 2007
Payment calculation
15% of DI*, capped at Standard 10 year
10% of DI*, capped at Standard 10 year
10% of DI*, no payment cap
Repayment term
25 years (any balance left forgiven**)
20 years (any balance left forgiven**)
Capitalization
No limit
Capped at 10% of principal
Spousal income
Yes, but not if filing separately
Yes, regardless of filing status
Income requirement
Yes, borrower must demonstrate PFH*** No
Interest subsidy on unsubsidized loans
Yes, 50%, any time interest due higher than REPAYE amount
PSLF eligible
Yes, if payments on DL
Yes
* Discretionary Income ** Taxable *** Must demonstrate “Partial Financial Hardship”
2019 PGPresents, LLC * All Rights Reserved * * January 2019

5. Community property states
Money earned by either spouse while married and all property bought with those earnings considered equally owned by each spouse
Community property states
Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin
When filing separately and using IBR or PAYE, half of spousal income likely reflected on return
Work with loan servicer to request that spousal income be excluded from payment calculation
Submit “alternative documentation of income”

6. Married borrowers and refinancing
Spousal federal student loan debt factored into payment calculation for married borrowers using income plans that include spousal income
Spousal private student loan debt not factored into payment calculation for married borrowers using income plans that include spousal income

7. Estimating payments
Use Repayment Estimator at to estimate impact of spousal income and spousal federal debt on monthly payments under income plans
Use drop down menu under tax filing status section and run calculations with and without filing jointly

8. PGPresents, LLC Independent Student Loan Consulting www.PGPresents.com
END OF MODULE 5
PGPresents, LLC
Independent Student Loan Consulting
2019 PGPresents, LLC - All Rights Reserved