Gilligan isn’t the brightest bulb on the island.
He and some of his crew of castaways are having money problems. Ginger borrowed $1,000 from Thurston Howell III, but he wants Gilligan to guarantee Ginger’s debt.
Gilligan remembered his grandmother telling him that the Bible said never to act as a surety for someone else. But Grandma is a long way from the island, and Ginger, with her red lipstick and movie star looks, is asking him to help her out.
Gilligan gives in. He raises his right hand and promises Mr. Howell that he’ll repay Ginger’s debt. Now Ginger is giving Gilligan the cold shoulder and has moved into the professor’s bungalow. Howell wants his
money. What’s a shipmate to
do? In Louisiana, a suretyship is a contract by which a person binds himself to a creditor to pay the obligation of another if they fail to do so.
Gilligan’s grandmother is correct. The Bible in Proverbs does warn against guaranteeing another person’s debt. That’s definitely the best policy, but oftentimes the bank wants a guarantee.
In this situation, Gilligan may have an out. Louisiana law requires a suretyship to be express and in writing. An oral promise of guarantee is not enforceable.
As a result, Howell can’t legally force Gilligan to pay Ginger’s debt.
David Doughty is an attorney for the law firm of Cotton, Bolton, Hoychick & Doughty.
