medical judgement

[stacey lee]

What is the name of your state? alabama.my wife has a judgement against her for a medical bill.it was before we married.she was a minor at the time.the lawyer waited until she was 18 before going to court.she verbally agreed to pay debt.we have been paying on debt for almost a year.we missed a payment but,doubled up on next payment.the lawyer said we owed double the amount of agreed payment.he received the payment on 4/4/03.on 4/8/03 he put in to garnish our bank account.what can we do to stop this?it has put us in default on our home.

 

[djohnson]

Did you contact his office to see if putting it in was a mistake? What did they say? There's not much you can do about it at this point. They have a judgement and can garnish. Trying to talk to them would be your only shot and it's slim.

 

[JETX]

Sorry, but the creditor has the right to enforce the judgment at any time, including garnishment of wages, accounts or even seizure of non-exempt assets. And your making payments, on-time or not, does nothing to prevent the lawful enforcement processes available.

 

[nowpastdue]

I am NOT an attorney.

Sorry to say that I concur with the other persons responding in that a judgement holder has a wide variety of means to collect the debt.

You stated that your wife incurred this medical debt when she was a minor. Why did not her parents pay the debt, they are responsible for necessities of life, one of which is medical care? Exactly what date was on the original bill, when did your wife become 18, and on what date did the attorney file the suit?

By affirming the debt after she reached the age of majority your wife unwittingly made the debt entirely hers. Although it is water under the bridge you might want to check and see if in Alabama an affirmation of a debt by a minor at reaching majority has to be in writing or if a verbal promise is sufficient. Since, you said a judgement was awarded I suppose that was hashed out in court (?).

Don't get me wrong. I think everyone should be responsible for their debts but I also think you were making an honest effort to take care of this one.