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01-04-2010, 03:13 PM
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Question about Medical debt responsibility in OK
Question about Medical debt responsibility in OK Q : I have been told that there is a law in Oklahoma which states a woman, upon her spouse's death, cannot be held responsible for medical debt which is not covered by insurance. I can't find this in writing anywhere. Can anyone lead me to this law? In writing? A : Are you referring to the health debts of the husband? Or the wife's own health debts? If it is the former, then the general rule in all non-community property states is that you are not liable for the separate debts of your spouse. You won't typically find a specific law that says that. Instead, the way it works is that the only debts you owe are those that you yourself incurred or guaranteed, and those that the law imposes on you. Thus, unless OK has a law that says you are liable for your spouse's separate medical bills, you don't owe them (unless you guaranteed them, of course). Some states do have laws that makes you liable for certain support expenses of your spouse (basically to avoid them ending up on welfare when a spouse can provide support). Some medical bills fall in that category. In this regard, Oklahoma Statute §43-202 provides for a spousal duty of support as follows: "The husband must support himself and his wife out of the community property or out of his separate property or by his labor. The wife must support the husband when he has not deserted her out of the community property or out of her separate property when he has no community or separate property and he is unable from infirmity to support himself." Oklahoma is not a community property state, so how the term community property is applied in this statute is not immediately clear to me. Note that your husband's estate will owe his medical bills and those will need to be paid prior to you or anyone else inheriting estate assets. If your husband's estate can't or won't pay the medical bills that the insurance does not cover, see an OK attorney to determine the extent of any personal liability that you may have for them. This forum offers free legal advice for citizens of the following States of America Alabama AL , Alaska AK , American Samoa AS , Arizona AZ , Arkansas AR , California CA , Colorado CO , Connecticut CT , Delaware DE , District of Columbia DC , Federated States of Micronesia FM , Florida FL , Georgia GA , Guam GU , Hawaii HI , Idaho ID , Illinois IL , Indiana IN , Iowa IA ,Kansas KS , Kentucky KY , Louisiana LA , Maine ME , Marshall Islands MH , Maryland MD , Massachusetts MA , Michigan MI , Minnesota MN , Mississippi MS , Missouri MO , Montana MT , Nebraska NE , Nevada NV , New Hampshire NH , New Jersey NJ , New Mexico NM , New Mexico NM , New York NY , North Carolina NC , North Dakota ND , Northern Mariana Islands MP , Ohio OH , Oklahoma OK , Oregon OR , Palau PW , Pennsylvania PA , Puerto Rico PR , Rhode Island RI , South Carolina SC , South Dakota SD , Tennessee TN , Texas TX , Utah UT , Vermont VT , Virgin Islands VI , Virginia VA , Washington WA , West Virginia WV , Wisconsin WI , Wyoming WY 
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