Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Georgia

What a mess. I assume the dentist has amnesia about this whole arrangement. What proof do you have as to the terms of the deal? Can you bring in any of the office workers or ask the billing manager? Although I doubt that they will be willing to testify for you or give you a notarized statement (called an affidavit) to that effect. Did you sign any paperwork at all in which you agreed to be responsible? Did you ever ask the dentist to explain why ther bill was double that amount which you agreed on?

The only thing you can do is to present whatever evidence you can muster in support of your defense to show that you made an agreement to do the work for $2,500 (copies of itemized statement which show the work to be done and cost) and a copy of your cancelled check to show that you paid $2,500 and that no money is owed. Failing that, try to work out a payment plan for the balance in the event that you are held liable. Georgia does have wage garnishment and you do not want your wages garnished. The judgment will allow the dentist to garnish up to 25% of your disposable pay (meaning after taxes or other deductions required by law).

You can tell the Judge that you had an agreement for $2500, but in reading your post that might be hard to show. It appears that you and the dentist (or the assistant) merely exchanged vague comments about what you wanted it to be and what the dentist thought it would be. In addition, we don't know what was done, if extra work was required once it started, whether unnecessary work was done, etc. Those facts are important in a legal case. The bottom line is that if you want to get an agreement for this or any other matter, you make a firm agreement and put it in writing. Even then, it does not work well with medical care where there are often unanticipated factors that come up only after the work has started. If you are being sued, based on the facts you presented, you might be much better off resolving it before a trial and not risk a judgment against you that will harm your credit for years to come. I am certainly not saying you will lose, but if you were to lose it would harm you a lot more than losing would harm the dentist. Of course, if you want a firm legal opinion, you'll need to see a lawyer and detail all the facts and all conversations.