Richland Memorial Hospital v. Burton

Harwell, Justice:

The respondent Richland Memorial Hospital brought this collection action against the appellant husband of a deceased patient. The trial court found the husband liable under the common law necessaries doctrine. He appeals alleging the doctrine and S. C. Code Ann. § 20-5-60 (1976) unconstitutional as violative of the equal protection clauses of the South Carolina and United States Constitutions. We affirm under the common law doctrine.

Under the common law, husbands could be held liable for their wives’ debts contracted prior to and during marriage. This rule was founded on the…