Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Wisconsin

Deceased Spouse Medical Care Liability for Surviving Spouse

In WI, spouses are liable for the reasonable and necessary medical expenses of the other spouse under the "Doctrine of Necessities" which is based upon longstanding common law regarding the duties of spouses to support one another. This doctrine also applies to the duty to support children, even without a formal child support order. This form of liabilty continues following death. Exemption laws, however, can reduce some of these liabilities for surviving spouses with limited assets. You should discuss possible defenses with an experienced bankruptcy attorney, or other attorney who is familiar with creditor/debtor law. Additionally, under the WI Marital Property Act, the deceased spouse�s creditors have a claim against all of the deceased spouse's interest in marital property. This is a totally different type of liability than that under the �necessities� doctrine, and both liabilities often apply simultaneously. Since wages, for example, are marital property, the creditors could take up to half of the surviving spouse's wages for the debts. Wages, however, will cease to be marital property if they are earned after the date of death of the other spouse. But savings accumulated before death which are attributable to wages will remain marital property after death and therefore such savings (as well as any other marital asset) will remain subject to the debt. The law recognizes exceptions to marital property liability for inherited or gifted property; for wages earned in non-community property states and for couples who have �opted out� of the marital property act through a premarital agreement or other contract (and who have given creditors advanced notice of the existence of that contract). Obviously, this is complex stuff and it very well might be too complex to easily explain it to a lay person�you really need to discuss it with an attorney. (P.S.; Even attorneys frequently have trouble understanding all of this completely.)