Spendthrift

A spendthrift is someone who spends money prodigally and is extravagant and recklessly wasteful. The origin of the word is someone who is able to spend money acquired by the thrift of predecessors or ancestors.

Legal issues

The modern legal remedy for spendthrifts is usually bankruptcy. However, during the 19th and 20th centuries, a few jurisdictions, such as the U.S. state of Oregon, experimented with laws under which the family of such a person could have him legally declared a "spendthrift" by a court of law. In turn, such persons were considered to lack the legal capacity to enter into binding contracts. Even though such laws made life harder for creditors (who now had the burden of ensuring that any prospective debtor had not been judicially declared a spendthrift), they were thought to be justified by the public policy of keeping a spendthrift's family from ending up in the poorhouse or on welfare.

Related Topics:
Bankruptcy - U.S. state - Oregon - Law - Family - Court - Contract - Creditor - Public policy - Poorhouse - Welfare

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Needless to say, such laws have since been abolished in favor of modern bankruptcy, which is more favorable to creditors.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~