What defense should I use against the family purpose doctrine for a deceased spouses medical bills?
Full Question:
Answer:
The family purpose doctrine states that the expenses of the family and the education of the children are able to be collected from the property of both husband and wife, or either of them, and that they may be sued jointly or separately to collect such debts.
The medical, dental and educational costs incurred for the benefit of the children are the debts of both the husband and wife. A creditor in Colorado may try to use the family purpose doctrine when a spouse incurs a large hospital bill before passing away. Often, this debt is very large and not covered by insurance. Through the use of the family purpose doctrine, the medical providers file suit against the surviving spouse instead of the Colorado probate estate.
Good medical insurance is one way to reduce the risk of the family purpose doctrine. A life insurance trust or other irrevocable trust may also protect assets from being attched under the family purpose doctrine. Assets in an irrevocable trust are generally beyond the reach of the beneficiary’s creditors and not part of the probate estate. Although the deceased funds the life insurance trust, the assets are not considered to be assets of the deceased or of the beneficiary.
Because the doctrine applies only to husbands and wives in Colorado, divorce may be an option of last resort. It does not seem to cover boyfriends, girlfriends and significant others. If the debt is incurred while a person is single, it is typically not covered by the family purpose doctrine.
A statute of limitations may also apply to bar collection of a debt. If the creditor fails to file an action to collect the debt within the applicalbe time period, they can be barred from enforcing payment. The following are CO statutes:
13-80-101. General limitation of actions — three years.
(1) The following civil actions, regardless of the theory upon which suit
is brought, or against whom suit is brought, shall be commenced within
three years after the cause of action accrues, and not thereafter:
(a) All contract actions, including personal contracts and actions under
the "Uniform Commercial Code", except as otherwise provided in section
13-80-103.5;
(b) Repealed.
(c) All actions for fraud, misrepresentation, concealment, or deceit
except those in section 13-80-102(1)(j) or section 13-80-103(1)(g);
(d) and
(e) Repealed.
(f) All actions for breach of trust or breach of fiduciary duty;
(g) All claims under the "Uniform Consumer Credit Code", except section
5-5-201(5), C.R.S.;
(h) All actions of replevin or for taking, detaining, or converting goods
or chattels, except as otherwise provided in section 13-80-103.5;
(i) All actions under the "Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Act",
article 7 of title 42, C.R.S.;
(j) All actions under part 6 of article 4 of title 10, C.R.S.;
(k) All actions accruing outside this state if the limitation of actions
of the place where the cause of action accrued is greater than that of this
state;
(l) All actions of debt under section 40-30-102, C.R.S.;
(m) All actions for recovery of erroneous or excessive refunds of any tax
under section 39-21-102, C.R.S.;
(n)
(I) All tort actions for bodily injury or property damage arising out
of the use or operation of a motor vehicle including all actions pursuant
to paragraph (j) of this subsection (1).
(II) The provisions of this paragraph (n) do not apply to any action for
strict liability, absolute liability, or failure to instruct or warn
governed by the provisions of section 13-80-102(1)(b) or section 13-80-106.
(o)
(I) All actions for damages against a business arising out of a year
2000 failure.
(II) For purposes of this paragraph (o):
(A) "Business" shall have the same meaning as set forth in section
13-21-603(1).
(B) "Electronic computing device" shall have the same meaning as set forth
in section 13-21-603(2).
(C) "Year 2000 failure" shall have the same meaning as set forth in
section 13-21-603(3).
(p)
(I) All actions for damages against a hospital enterprise arising out
of a year 2000 failure.
(II) For purposes of this paragraph (p):
(A) "Electronic computing device" shall have the same meaning as set forth
in section 13-21-901(1).
(B) "Hospital enterprise" shall have the same meaning as set forth in
section 13-21-901(2).
(C) "Year 2000 failure" shall have the same meaning as set forth in
section 13-21-901(3).
13-80-103.5. General limitation of actions — six years.
(1) The following actions shall be commenced within six years after the
cause of action accrues and not thereafter:
(a) All actions to recover a liquidated debt or an unliquidated,
determinable amount of money due to the person bringing the action, all
actions for the enforcement of rights set forth in any instrument
securing the payment of or evidencing any debt, and all actions of
replevin to recover the possession of personal property encumbered under
any instrument securing any debt; except that actions to recover pursuant
to section 38-35-124.5(3), C.R.S., shall be commenced within one year;
(b) All actions for arrears of rent;
(c) All actions brought under section 13-21-109, except actions brought
under section 13-21-109(2);
(d) All actions by the public employees' retirement association to collect
unpaid contributions from employers for persons who are not members or
inactive members at the time the association first notifies an employer of
its claim for unpaid contributions. This paragraph (d) shall apply to
causes of action as provided in section 24-51-402(2), C.R.S.
(e) All actions brought for restitution and civil penalties pursuant to
section 25.5-4-306, C.R.S.