I am often asked if someone serving as guardian, conservator, agent under a power of attorney, or spouse is liable for the debts and liabilities of the ward or principal or other spouse. Just over 30 years ago the Mississippi Supreme Court answered this question as it applies to a spouse’s liability for debts of their spouse. In the 1993 Mississippi case of Jeremy R. Govan v. Medical Credit Services, Inc., the trial court found Jeremy Govan liable for certain unpaid medical bills of his former wife, Kimberly Govan, which were incurred prior to their divorce. The Supreme Court, in reversing this ruling, held that absent any express agreement with a third party to do so, a spouse is not obligated to pay the debts of the other, stating: “Nothing in our jurisprudence obligates one spouse to be liable to a third party for the debts of the other without express consent.” So, if a wife or husband of a person did not sign any agreement to be responsible for the other’s debt, and did not take some personal advantage of the debt that could cause them to be liable, they will not be responsible for that debt.

A recent Ohio case reached a similar conclusion regarding liability of a power of attorney agent for his principal’s nursing home bill. Concord Village Skilled Nursing & Rehab. v. Lundquist, No. 2025-L-033 (Ohio Ct. App. Nov. 10, 2025) In March 2022, Helen Lundquist entered into a written agreement for admission to Concord Village Skilled Nursing & Rehabilitation, Ltd. (Concord Village), a long-term care facility, under which Concord Village was obligated to provide services to Helen at a daily rate of $325. The agreement required Helen to pay expenses not covered by Medicare or another payor. She resided at Concord Village from March 2022 to December 2022.

Less than six months after entering into the agreement, Helen executed a durable power of attorney naming  her son, Terrance, as her agent. Helen and Terrance also had a joint bank account. Helen did not make all her contractually obligated payments and was ultimately discharged from the facility for nonpayment. In 2024, Concord Village filed a complaint against Helen, Terrance, and other parties seeking damages, including $66,627.23 for services rendered. The trial court granted Concord Village’s breach of contract claim against Helen but granted summary judgment in favor of Terrance on all of Concord Village’s claims against him. Concord Village appealed the trial court’s ruling in favor of Terrance.

In the appeal, the Ohio Court of Appeals rejected Concord Village’s argument that Terrance had negligently failed to pay amounts Helen owed it and was personally liable under 42 C.F.R. § 483.15(a)(3) and a similar Ohio regulation: Those regulations prohibit nursing facilities from requesting or requiring a third party to guarantee payment as a condition of admission but allow them to request or require a resident’s representative who has legal access to the resident’s income or resources to sign a contract to provide payments to the facility from the resident’s income or resources without incurring personal liability. The court found that there was no evidence that Terrance had signed an agreement with Concord Village in his individual capacity or as Helen’s attorney-in-fact. Thus, he had no duty to pay Helen’s debt to Concord Village.

The moral of this story for clients is: If you are presented with documents or agreements that address the responsibility for payments for any health care or other services to be rendered to your spouse or principal under a power of attorney or guardianship, do not sign your personal name on those. If you do so, you may get stuck with the bill or have to go to court to get out of paying it.