Bronson Methodist Hosp. v. LaRoy, Docket Nos. 89659

• Decision Date: 10 November 1988
• Docket Number: 90892,Docket Nos. 89659
• Citation: 430 N.W.2d 817,171 Mich.App. 729
• Parties: BRONSON METHODIST HOSPITAL, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Norma LaROY, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: Court of Appeal of Michigan — District of US

Page 817

430 N.W.2d 817

171 Mich.App. 729

BRONSON METHODIST HOSPITAL, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Norma LaROY, Defendant-Appellee.

Docket Nos. 89659, 90892.

Court of Appeals of Michigan.

Submitted March 5, 1987.

Decided Oct. 3, 1988.

Released for Publication Nov. 10, 1988.

Ford & Kriekard, P.C. by Robert A. Soltis, Kalamazoo, for plaintiff.

Burnett, Kastran & Stone by Stephen A. Kastran, Allegan, for defendant.

Before HOOD, P.J., and HOLBROOK and STEMPIEN, ^* JJ.

STEMPIEN, Judge.

In this consolidated appeal, plaintiff, Bronson Methodist Hospital, appeals from the Allegan Circuit Court's December 5, 1985, order granting summary disposition in defendant's favor on Count III of plaintiff's complaint. Count III alleged a common-law duty of a wife to pay for necessary medical treatment and services rendered to her husband. Plaintiff also appeals from an order filed February 24, 1986, in which the court found no cause of action on Count I (breach of an express contract to pay) and Count II (breach of an implied contract to pay). We affirm.

From March, 1984, until his death in October, 1984, defendant's husband, Edwin LaRoy, received medical care from plaintiff. When defendant refused to pay for her husband's medical treatment plaintiff sued defendant for the amount due. Count III of plaintiff's complaint alleged that defendant had breached her common-law duty to pay for necessary medical care and treatment of her husband. Recently, this Court recognized a wife's duty to pay for her husband's necessary medical treatment. Borgess Medical Center v. Smith, 149 Mich.App. 796, 386 N.W.2d 684 (1986).

The Court in Borgess alluded to the married women's act, specifically to M.C.L. Sec. 557.21; M.S.A. Sec. 26.165(1), which states:

(1) "If a woman acquires real or personal property before marriage or becomes entitled to or acquires, after marriage, real or personal property through gift, grant, inheritance, devise, or other manner, that property is and shall remain the property of the woman and be a part of the woman's estate. She may contract with respect to the property, sell, transfer, mortgage, convey, devise, or bequeath the property in the same manner and with the same effect as if she were unmarried. The property shall not be liable for the debts, obligations, or engagements of any other person, including the woman's husband, except as provided in this act."

After noting that the statute made it clear that a woman is not responsible for her husband's debts, the Borgess Court suggested that it was time for a change in the law.

In its ruling the Borgess Court relied upon the reasoning employed by the New Jersey Supreme Court in Jersey Shore Medical Center-Fitkin Hospital v. Estate of Baum, 84 N.J. 137, 417 A.2d 1003 (1980). There, the plaintiff sued the defendant to recover the costs of defendant's husband's last illness. Defendant filed a motion for summary judgment, which was granted. On appeal, the New Jersey Supreme Court affirmed but issued a prospective ruling that both spouses would be liable for the debts of the other.

"We conclude that the common law rule must yield to the evolving interdependence of married men and women and to the reality that a marriage is a partnership. Consequently, we declare that both spouses are liable for necessary expenses incurred by either spouse in the course of the marriage. As long as the marriage subsists, the financial resources of both spouses should be available to pay a creditor who provides necessary goods and services to either spouse. ... However, a judgment creditor must first seek satisfaction from the income and...