Kainrath Law Firm has occasionally filed bankruptcies for debtors who are represented by another person through a power of attorney.  Typically these situations occur when a husband or wife has power of attorney over their incapacitated spouse, a son or daughter has power of attorney over an incapacitated parent or a parent has power of attorney over their incapacitated child.

Often questions arise as to whether an incapacitated person would need to file bankruptcy. It may be true that if the person has no income there is nothing for a creditor to garnish.  However, other factors to consider are whether the incapacitated person has non-exempt assets that a creditor could seize or put a lien against, such as a house, bank accounts, automobile or other personal property.  In matters where a husband or wife has power of attorney over their spouse their debts are sometimes jointly held.  This means that if only one spouse files bankruptcy then the creditor can still go after the incapacitated spouse for collection of debt. 

Even if the incapacitated person is judgment proof, meaning that they have no income to garnish and no non-exempt assets to seize or put a lien against, they or their family members may still be subject to never-ending harassing phone calls from debt collectors.  In this type of situation, a bankruptcy lawyer may offer alternative options to stop creditor harassment with the possibility of avoiding filing for bankruptcy altogether.

For additional information on this topic, contact Indianapolis bankruptcy attorney Scott A. Kainrath for a free bankruptcy consultation.