Spouse not responsible for other spouse’s contracts, etc.; mutual liability for necessaries; responsibility of personal representative (§ 55-37)—Virginia Decoded

Spouse not responsible for other spouse’s contracts, etc.; mutual liability for necessaries; responsibility of personal representative

Except as otherwise provided in this section, a spouse shall not be responsible for the other spouse’s contract or tort liability to a third party, whether such liability arose before or after the marriage. The doctrine of necessaries as it existed at common law shall apply equally to both spouses, except where they are permanently living separate and apart, but shall in no event create any liability between such spouses as to each other. No lien arising out of a judgment under this section shall attach to the judgment debtors’ principal residence held by them as tenants by the entireties or that was held by them as tenants by the entireties prior to the death of either spouse where the tenancy terminated as a result of the death of either spouse.

History

Code 1919, § 5134; 1932, p. 22; 1984, c. 504; 1985, c. 202; 2012, c. 45.

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Court Decisions

Scarborough v. Atlantic Coast Line R. Co (Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, 12/03/49)
. . . extent be void". 45 U.S.C.A. § 55. . . .

Vigilant Ins. Co. v. Bennett (SCV, 09/14/55)
. . . contending that by Code 1950, sections 55-35, 55-36 and 55-37, the common law rule that one spouse . . .

Schilling v. Bedford Cty. Memorial Hosp. (SCV, 06/17/83)
. . . doctrine has been modified by the passage of Code § 55-37 which provides that "[a] husband shall . . .

. . . United States v. Larry Emerson Burroughs and Harold Eugene . . . (Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, 10/31/77)
. . . Linen Supply, at 571, 97 S.Ct. at 1354-55. . . .

. . . Andrew J. McGhee Lacy Joyner Darryl Moss Eugene Fields . . . (Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, 10/21/88)
. . . Weiser, 412 U.S. 783, 794-95, 93 S.Ct. 2348, 2354-55, 37 L.Ed.2d 335 (1973), the court's ensuing . . .

. . . Honiss W. Cane, Jr. v. Worcester County, Maryland George M. . . . (Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, 09/16/94)
. . . Weiser, 412 U.S. 783, 793-96, 93 S.Ct. 2348, 2353-55, 37 L.Ed.2d 335 (1973) (holding that the . . .

Lowery v. Com. (COA, 01/16/90)
. . . Griffiths, 413 U.S. 717, 721-22, 93 S.Ct. 2851, 2854-55, 37 L.Ed.2d 910 (1973) (footnotes omitted). . . .

Sentara Virginia Beach Gen. Hosp. v. LeBeau (District Court, E.D. Virginia, 03/01/02)
. . . doctrine of necessaries, codified in Va.Code Ann. § 55-37 (Michie 2000) (common law doctrine of . . .

Smith v. Board of Sup'rs of Brunswick County (District Court, E.D. Virginia, 06/10/92)
. . . Weiser, 412 U.S. 783, 794-95, 93 S.Ct. 2348, 2354-55, 37 L.Ed.2d 335 (1973)); McDaniels v. Mehfoud, . . .

In Re Bissell (United States Bankruptcy Court, E.D. Virginia, 11/22/00)
. . . 3123); (3) tenants by the entirety exemption (§ 55-37); (4) spendthrift trusts (§ 55-19); and (5) . . .

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