How Do Prenups Exactly Work, And Is It Smart To Get One If Legally Getting Married To Someone With A Lot Of College Debt?

Hello,

Firstly, this is NOT a post meant to incite anything political- I genuinely am seeking advice from someone actually educated in these matters as I do not really understand a lot of what goes into this matter legally, and frankly google's ai is known to give misinformation or even be flat out wrong.

I and my fiance are considering simply legally getting married before having a ceremony because of some of the recent bills introduced to federal legislation. Specifically, there has been a bill introduced that essentially will limit women's healthcare by requiring the involvement of their father or their husband.

While I don't know if this bill will pass, I frankly do not have faith in our government or system when it comes to my autonomy and rights- as I have personally been let down time and time again since 2013.

Because of this, while we intended to officially announce our engagement this year and then plan a ceremony for 2026... we are considering quietly legally signing the marriage license and legally binding ourselves for my protection as a precaution.

However, he is currently in his 5th year of college to get his license in architecture. He already has his bachelors and is going for his masters. While his family helped him with his bachelors, they are not with his masters degree and thus he has taken out a lot of student loans in order to finish his school and become fully licensed.

I never was able to finish college and have already paid all student debt I had. The only debt I actually have is 4k in credit card debt (covid was rough) and the rest of my car payment which isn't too bad.

God forbid anything happens, but if something happens to him- I do not want to be responsible for his student debt.

Here are my questions:

1. Would a prenup detailing that we are not responsible for one anothers debt reasonable and is it costly to get?

2. If we didnt get a prenup, and still legally got married, would I be responsible for his student debt if (god forbid) anything happens to him?

3. Are there things involved with marriage legally that I should be aware of? I cannot really speak with my parents about this sort of thing as we are low contact and... we do not want our families to learn that we legally got married before we have our ceremony. (More trouble/drama than its worth)

4. Would it be smart to add other things to a prenup? If so, what?