Let’s imagine that Tom Martin owed a local hardware store $875 for tools and supplies. Unfortunately, Tom Martin was overloaded with debt, and he couldn’t pay off the amount he owed to the hardware store. Eventually, Tom decided to declare bankruptcy. He went about finding a good lawyer . And he filed for bankruptcy. After proceeding through the judicial system, the bankruptcy court erased all of Tom’s debts.
Nevertheless, Tom had for a long time been on good terms with the local hardware store, and he felt bad that the store had never been paid. So one day when he was at the hardware store to purchase some nails, Tom talked to the store owner, Jim Matthison. Tom told Jim he was sorry for having to declare bankruptcy, but that he just had far too many debts to pay. However, he told Mr. Matthison: “I never intended for you to get stuck. So I promise to pay you the full $875, just the same as if I had never declared bankruptcy.”
Well as it turned out, Tom’s finances never got any better. So although he promised Jim that he would pay him, Tom actually never paid anything on the debt. So after ten months, Jim, the store owner, employed an attorney himself. He then sued Tom for the entire $875 he had promised to pay. Once the case was heard by the court, guess he won: Tom, the debtor, or Jim, the hardware store owner?
Bringing an Old Debt Back to Life
In most jurisdictions, Jim, the hardware store owner would prevail. The court would no doubt rule that the bankruptcy court only barred the enforcement of the debt. However, it never wiped out the moral obligation to pay the amount owed. As a result, most likely the court would rule that the actual debt, coupled with the moral obligation to pay that debt, is sufficient consideration to support the new pledge to pay off that debt.
In some states, courts have said that in such situations like this, the new promise made by Tom revives the old debt he originally owed to the hardware store. In other words, the moral right continued to exist. It was only the remedy that had been barred by the bankruptcy court.
This is all consistent with a long-standing principle of law that an earlier debt constitutes sufficient legal consideration for a subsequent promise to pay that debt. This legal rule applies not only to bankruptcies, but also to debts that are barred from enforcement by the statute of limitations. In most states, a creditor has four years to sue on a debt that is past due. If he waits ten years, he can no longer legally collect the debt. However, after ten years, if the debtor makes a new promise to pay the old debt, then the new promise is enforceable.
John Allen Farrer, is a retired lawyer who writes extensively on various legal topics. He recently wrote a helpful report on finding lawyers, the title of which is “How to Find a Good Attorney.” For a limited time, you can receive a free copy of this report by going to his website, Finding the Best Lawyers
