Legal ? In an effort to ist a client of mine, I have a question about what happens when someone is being?

The first question is whether he owes the money or not. If he owes it, a judgment may be taken against him for the amount owed. All a court can do is enter the judgment, it cannot forced him to pay, especially since there are no ets. You should also check the state statutes on exemptions, that is each state allows a certain portion of an individual's ets to be exempt from attachment or garnishment. My guess is that if the car is his only et, he could claim that as exempt and keep it. You may also want to show proof of the disability to the other attorney to establish that he does not have anything and will not likely receive anything in the future. If a case is uncollectable, and you show it, the creditor may stop pursuing it. Now, some questions to anticipate, is how is the person living day to day, and how is he getting money for a place to stay and food to eat. If he is receiving SSI disability payments, those are also exempt and cannot be touched by the creditor. If he is unable to handle his day to day affairs, why is there no guardian for him, i.e. someone to manage his daily affairs. Is he actively seeking treatment for his mental illness? If so, perhaps he may have a defense to the claims, that is was he mentally competent to agree to the terms of the credit card in the first place. These are all questions that need to be answered. You should check with your local bar ociation for legal aid clinics who would offer advice at little or no cost depending on the ability of the person to pay. They would be in a better position to answer your questions, and see whether there is something that can be done in this case.