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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    southern New Jersey
    Posts
    4

    Default Spouse's Responsibility For Credit Cards

    My question involves debt management in the State of: New Jersey
    If married people each have there own credit cards and they applied for them without the spouse signing as authrized user or joint account, would the other spouse still be liable for the card? We have never signed using the others card.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Il.(near StL,Mo.)
    Posts
    5,252

    Default Re: Spouse's Responsibility For Credit Cards

    First off, New Jersey is not a community property state . . . but there is an old common law called the "doctrine of necessaries" (can apply to states that are not community property states) which can make one spouse responsible for the other spouse's debts. In recent years this doctrine has been applied mainly to medical debts & some states have even abolished the doctrine.

    However, this is what the New Jersey Supreme Court had to say about the doctrine: The court recognized marriage as a "shared enterprise and a joint undertaking" that is "akin to a partnership." As a result, the court held that a creditor who provides necessaries to one spouse can assume that the financial resources of both spouses may be used for payment; however, one spouse may only become liable for the debt when the resources of the other spouse who incurred the debt are insufficient.

    In your case, I would suggest you contact an attorney in your state for his opinion & advice (to see just how the courts in your state are currently handling this doctrine) - it's *possible* in NJ one spouse may be responsible for another's credit card debt in some cases. (ie one spouse has insufficient funds to pay the debt but the other does)

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Posts
    1

    Default Re: Spouse's Responsibility For Medical Bills In The State Of New Jersey

    My husband had no assests at all when he died. I am financially poor and am not able to pay the the portions(s) of his medical bills that his heath provider says is the responsibilty of the patient. It goes into the thousands of dollars. I am alive he is dead, you cannot get blood out of a stone. In spite of the fact that I loved him dearly, I did not co-sign to be responsible for his bills. His health provider paid and paid money to all the doctors who treated him and for all the medical services he received until his death a year ago.

    I understand the theory of the The Doctrine of Necessities, but I do not have the money. His estate was was insolvant. He was sucked dry by all the medical procedures, medicines, treatment, operations, etc., that failed to save his life. Bottom line, I just don't have the funds to pick up the differece of what is said to be the unpaid portion. To say to me, 'work out something' with collections is ridiculous; I simply don't have it and I never will have that kind of money. For me to send token payements that will never pay off these bills in my lifetime but reduce what little money I do have, serves no purpose whatsoever. Like a grain of sand on a beach.

    Can my home be taken from me or a lien placed on it? It is now solely in my name. It was jointly owned by rights of suvivorship when we purchased it; same in regard to the 2 cars. Will my credit suffer as a result of this tragedy regarding the death of my husband? I have lost him, I am in a morbid grieve from which I will never recover emotionally. Will I be hounded for the rest of my pitiful years in regards to these bills?

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