Legal Question in Bankruptcy in Wisconsin

Yes, even if someone is in such a poor mental state to be legally incompetent to consent to emergency health care or other expenses necessary to protect their wellbeing, their estate (or assets) are still available to pay the costs of such care. This is known as the "doctrine of necessities," and it also applies to care provided to dependent children and spouses. Otherwise, doctors and hospitals would never be able to render emergency room care to anyone who was brought in unconscious, intoxicated, etc. If the bills which you mention were not medical bills, liability may be disputed in some circumstances if you were legally incompetent at the time. However, if the creditor did not have notice of your legal incompetency, your estate (or assets) could still be held liable, and it would be very difficult to prove this in court unless a judge had previously appointed a legal guardian or conservator for you. The good news, however, is that most unsecured bills are easily discharged in chapter 7 bankruptcy, for a total cost within a $1-2,000 range for most consumer debtors, and there, proof on the issue of incompetency is not needed. Rather, the analysis is strictly one of financial ability to pay. In WI, most wage earners below or near the State's average income are easily eligible for this relief (known as a "bankruptcy discharge"), once every eight years or, under chapter 13, as soon as four and a half years after the last chapter 7 filing (or in certain cases, even sooner than that). Bankruptcy is a right guaranteed under the United States Constitution, even though each state has the right to set its own asset limits for what amount of property a bankrupt person can save from his or her creditors (known as "exemption" laws). If you have such a problem with debts incurred during a period of poor judgment, you therefore owe it to yourself to soon have a discussion with an experienced bankruptcy lawyer. Please be aware that my responses to you in the public web forum do not make me your attorney and that I am not representing you or taking any action on your case. Instead, these answers are intended for public educational use only and may also contain lawyer advertising materials. Regardless of this, however, you are still welcome to contact me during business hours at my in Racine if you still have questions, or see me on the web at www.jayknixonlaw.com. For a list of my other answers on Law Guru, please see my profile link here at lawguru.com.