By Dan Samaria
Publisher/GCC
Dec. 26, 2009

Editor’s Note: There are many sites that can help you with dealing with debt. This site we use weekly with advice it called The Ask Doctor Debt.

They have answers to many frequently asked questions regarding debt and credit problems.

This week we will be giving you some FAQ that have been sent to their site. We hope that this will help you, in dealing with debt.

If you have any questions, you can reach us dan@goldcoastchronicle.com

 

 

By Ask Doctor Debt

(Q) Am I responsible for my spouse’s debts?

(A) State requirements established in statute or case law determine if one spouse may be held liable for providing the “necessaries” of life (food, clothing, shelter, medical care, or education for minor children) to the other spouse.

These requirements are based on the common law “doctrine of necessaries”, a rule of law which first emerged in the courts of England more than 300 years ago.

From its beginning, the doctrine allowed a wife to buy her necessaries on her husband’s credit even if the husband had refused or neglected to provide for her necessaries.

he common law served to protect married women from spousal neglect since the laws prohibited them from owning property, entering into contracts or receiving credit on their own behalf.

Like other common-law principles, the “doctrine” was transplanted from England and was applied in the United States. Many states have taken the original doctrine and have expanded its scope.

In most instances, state statutes or court decisions have established that both spouses are liable for the debts of the other, when those debts were incurred during the marriage to provide “necessaries.”

 

Source: Ask Doctor Debt