Fiance’s Medical Bills?
I am engaged to be married later this year. A few weeks ago, my fiance was in an accident which required 3 spinal surgeries and over 2 weeks hospital room and board. He is attempting to get Worker’s Comp to pay this case as it was work related and also is applying for medicaid in the event his claim is denied. To make a long story short, both me and his mom claimed him as a dependent (don’t know why she did when he lives with me) and Medicaid is calling this fraud, we were assured that he can reapply with his proper information (my address) and this will go through…
My question is… if workers comp and medicaid both deny his claims (unlikely but possible) when we marry later this year will I then become responsible for his incurred medical costs even though I am not legally his wife at the time of the accident?
I claimed him as my dependent to Medicaid in order to prove he was financially incapable of paying. He has no income and I support him which is basically what I had to say in a letter.
Medicaid considered it a “fraud” application because his mom also wrote the same letter – even though she was told not to — LONG story but I am getting a Marie Barone wanna be for a MIL
You may become liable after you get married for new medical bills. I would wait until he’s approved for medicaid before getting married.
Rebbecca A
14 Jun 09 at 6:52 pm
i dont understand how your claiming him as a dependant.
once your married, all bills become equal. i know this from my own experience.
~*Inspired*~
15 Jun 09 at 7:31 am
1st part: you cannot claim him as a dependent….don’t know why you did.
2nd part: yes it will carry over to you. any credit outstanding (regardless of when it was created) merges with you in marriage. this is true whether you knew about the debt or not. i found out the hard way, being liable for $15k of my wife’s student loans that i was never told of.
Alex H
15 Jun 09 at 3:43 pm
Legally yes, ethically, you should probably help him out — no?
Kevin C
16 Jun 09 at 5:51 am
i am sure you will be because you are now married but if you went to court i guess you could fight it. To be a nice wife you should help him out considering he would be your husband and you take the bad with the good. I would talk to the tax people and find out if what you did was really fraud and if it is i would fix this as as soon as possible so you do not mess up what he is trying to do. GOOD LUCK.
knowssignlanguage
17 Jun 09 at 12:13 pm
His debts do become your debts. If you were to divorce, you could argue that his debts predated the marriage but during the course of the marriage they’ll be considered something you icurred in common.
Btw…as you were not married at the time, you cannot claim him as a dependant without meeting certain strictures. Check with your local IRS office,
Lex
20 Jun 09 at 2:37 pm
Though I can’t comment on the medical portion (although it is very unfortunate) I’ll answer somewhat with a question:
If you marry someone that has credit card debt, can the CC company now collect from you?
The answer is YES! Marriage is a legally binding contract, and as such, you become a single legal entity in the eyes of the law.
p_rutherford2003
23 Jun 09 at 4:37 pm