I was served today and I'm not talking breakfast either...

[JustOverBroke]

Hi Everyone maybe you can help me I need some answers to a problem,where to start????

Okay my DW had an illness about a year and a half ago and we were served a summons today to appear on June 26,2009.

I went online to check the summons and the small claims suit only names me and not my DW,she was the patient not myself so wouldn't she be the responsible party?

I lost my job on April 20,2009 and am just now starting to receive my unemployment checks.

We have retained an attorney last month and he said we needed to wait until about July 1,2009 to file because of some money I received back on December 22,2008 from my mothers estate it put the DW and myself a bit over the median for our state(Wisconsin).

Can I be Garnished for a medical bill while on unemployment?

Since my DW is not named on the suit is this suit even valid?

Am I still responsible even though I'm not the person who received treatment?

I am still waiting to hear from our attorney I just called this morning.

Is this going to be anything to get excited about being that we will be filing the first or second week of July?

I hope some or all of you can give me some input advice to calm my nerves,I'm sure time is on my side I just need to be sure,a little positive reinforcement will go a loooooong way.

Thanks everyone

[LuciluS]

Did You have medical coverage at the time of her illness & she was listed as a dependent? If so, it might possibly be the reason you are being sued instead of DW? Might be she listed you as the responsible party on the forms she completed at time of illness.

If you had no medical insurance, again might be the forms she completed or if she didn't have a job, she listed you as the responsible party. I hope your Attorney calls you soon.

Please keep us informed as DH and I have so MANY medical bills not paid and will be filing on 9/30/09.

Just some of my thoughts.

Luci

[JustOverBroke]

Did You have medical coverage at the time of her illness & she was listed as a dependent? If so, it might possibly be the reason you are being sued instead of DW? Might be she listed you as the responsible party on the forms she completed at time of illness.

If you had no medical insurance, again might be the forms she completed or if she didn't have a job, she listed you as the responsible party. I hope your Attorney calls you soon.

Please keep us informed as DH and I have so MANY medical bills not paid and will be filing on 9/30/09.

Just some of my thoughts.

Luci

That's the funny thing,DW is employed and the health insurance is carried by her not me.

The bill was covered by her insurance,what we're being sued for are the remain deductables.

So other than being married and living in a community property state that is all thus bill and I have in common.

[LuciluS]

Hmmm...Don't know anything about a Community State.

I would think with you filing the 2nd week in July, your Attorney would be able to respond to the suit before trial date and delay it.

We quit paying most of our Credit Cards late last Sept. Our Attorney said if we got something in the mail either certified, FedEx, UPS, etc.., and if it is a Summons, for $60 (which I'm sure is per each) he could file something (I forgot the name of it) in Court to delay until will file 9/30/09. He also told us don't answer the phone if we don't know who is calling - I Love It!

You might could just send a Certified letter to the Judge stating you are unemployed and this is not your debt and just show up at the hearing if your Attorney wants a hefty fee to file. Again, tho, I know nothing about community property states.

Gee, at the most, it would be 3 weeks before you file right? Do you have your Attorney's email addy? I correspond easier by email with our Attorney.

Wishing You The Best!

Luci

[AngelinaCatHub]

BB2 is right, but I may add, please do show up at the hearing. You then might claim you need an itemized list of dates, times, and costs, and that you were not the patient and it is new news to you. You can also mention the unemployment status that you have (not the unemployment compensation), and that you wish a continence until you can afford legal advice. Anything will buy you a bit of time and when you file, it is all academic.

I was pretty sure unemployment was untouchable (except IRS) but it could vary from state to state. 'Hub

[JustOverBroke]

Don't worry about it really, your to close to filing. Your not going to fight it in court so most of the questions you asked are not important right now.

The one that is important is your question about your unemployment and yes it can be garnished in most states and the amount is set by state law. You need to check your local state laws on garnishments.

But on the other hand no it cant, meaning, they won't be able to get the state to withhold the money in most cases. But what they will try to do is go after a bank account. So, depending on how you get your unemployment benefits via check or direct deposit will depend on what you do next.

If its direct deposit, you can move it to another bank, deposit it into a prepaid WalMart Visa card and they won't know where it is at.

If you are sure you have NEVER used the bank you are with now to pay them anything they will not have your bank account information unless you give it to them.

Also, if for some reason they do or are able to effect the garnishment the nice thing about unemployment is, you simply stop claiming until you file your BK, that way they get no money and your benefits remain untouched. I know it can be tough to do that for a couple weeks but your very close to filing and more than likely they won't ever get around to garnishment before you file.

Also, they would have no way of knowing your on unemployment unless you told them and if they don't know they won't be able to find out you are on it unless you tell them.

Big Boy,

This hospital has never collected a dime from me so they have no account information on us,but just to be safe we are in the process of changing banks anyway we opened new accounts last month and will be closing the old checking account tomorrow.

I'm waiting for some money to fall off our income that falls off on June 23,2009 due to getting a few thousand dollars that my mom left me when she passed last june.

I'll have an appointment with my Attorney for that day with my credit counseling certificate in hand and all my paper work ready to file before the court date.

One other note is the defendant is United Credit Services if that means anything it's not the hospital per say.

[catleg]

Usually in small claims you can request a continuance. You can probably do that yourself without a lawyer. If you push it back into July you should be fine. It may be as simple as writing a letter to the court clerk, do it today so they have time to respond.

[treehugger1]

The summons probaby mentions your options as a defendant. In my state, to ask for a continuance one must first file a response ($45 in Oregon.) Deny the claim and request a hearing or whatever the response papers state. If you are lucky, you will be in a mediation state that first requires both parties to meet with a mediator. Upon unsatisfactory results, the case is referred to the judge and a hearing is re-scheduled for the judge. This can take another 30 - 60 days. I'm not sure how things work in your state for small claims, but if you are unemployed, you can spend your time researching the subject. I found it helpful to go to the courthouse and ask the county clerks questions. While they can't discuss legal tactics, they are more than willing to discuss process and procedure. The clerks now know me on a first-name basis. They also know that I know what information they must divulge to me.

If you can afford it, I would think the small claims game is relatively cheap to play in most states.

[optimistic1]

In a community property state, in the eyes of the law, you are seen as one entity, so any creditor that secures a judgment, could rightfully garnish both of you, regardless of who applied for the credit or incurred the debt during a marriage.

[music12]

i thought unemployment compensation was exempt in all states. that doesn't mean they won't get it out of your bank account, but it does mean you can contest it and get them to return it. but that's a huge hassle.

better to get your unemployment checks in checks instead of direct deposit. then just cash them instead of putting them in any bank account.