[Outrider]

We live in Texas. About 20 years ago my husband applied for and received a Sears card. The account has been open until about a month ago when it went to a collection attorney(?) (they called today) ... He hasn't purchased anything on this card since approximately 1995, but there was some sort of insurance policy that was appearing on the card every month. At one time he went through an insurance buying stage, he started life insurance, critical health insurance, etc. I thought he also purchased the Sears insurance, assuming it was something to cover the payments if he couldn't work, so I continued paying the Sears credit bills, but no matter how much I paid the balance kept climbing higher and higher. I finally asked him what the insurance was for and if we really needed it. He had no idea what I was talking about. According to Sears he added the policy 14 years ago to protect himself in case the card was stolen? (My name appears nowhere on this account. I cannot do anything with it except pay the bills which I had been doing all along.) He said he did not know what they were talking about. Apparently that insurance has kept the card active and the balance rising. The balance of the card is double what the credit limit ever was, and the purchases made on the card in '95 totalled about $700.00. Our balance owed today is $5,800.We were making the minimum payments for a number of years which I guess is why the balance is so high, in addition to the insurance billing.
This morning I got a call from someone representing the company that purchased the debt from Citibank. She made it sound like a law firm (she woke me up). She said there was no chance to set up payments, the total amount due would have to be paid and recommended borrowing from family and friends or a 401K, refinancing or selling our house or filing bankruptcy. I told her we did not have that kind of money or family or friends with that kind of money. We do not have 401Ks to borrow from and have recently refinanced our house to pay medical bills. (My husband has to have cancer treatments every 6 months). She told me that she would make a notation of "refused to pay." I told her I guess that's it, because I cannot pay money I do not have.
What now? Will they sue us (him)? Can they take our house? That and the bank accounts are the only things his name is on.
Any suggestions as to what we do next would be appreciated.

Outrider

[Mr. Knowitall]

If he bought insurance, and you have every reason to believe he did, he would owe premiums in accord with the policy.

You don't give enough information to figure things out, and apparently have a lot of debt, so consider talking to a bankruptcy lawyer.