Posted on 03/07/2009 1:07:43 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
If you get a credit card bill and cannot substantiate the charge, ask for an itemized bill for the estate. Your estate attorney should be able to help weed out fraudulent charges also.
When my husband was alive, I suspected he was running up debts behind my back. When I tried to investigate, the credit companies told me they couldn’t give out any information, since it was none of my business.
Then he died, all his secret debts came to light. Those same companies came after me to pay up.
It felt great to tell them to take a hike.
My brother-in-law recently died and left substantial credit card debts. He had used his credit cards to pay the large medical bills he incurred during his long illness that were not covered by his insurance. He didn’t own a home and his only assets were a ten year old pick-up truck and a boat. Neither I nor my wife feel any obligation to pay his debts neither do we have any legal obligation to do so.
Las Vagas bashes aren't free after all...
Who's easier to shake down than a grieving widow? Yeah, I really love bailing out bankers...
/s
I’ve been the only one using the one credit card we left open for quite a few years (groceries and the like), so that’s no problem.....and I’m only using the attorney for the legal/technical mumbo jumbo.
If they are liberals and their dead family member still votes, they should pay.
Dad: Hey son, what's your new job?
Son: I a debt collector. I go after dead people.
Dad: I'm so proud of you son. I told you you did not need to complete high school to get a job didn't I?! :-D
I think you found that ethical fine line many look for - sorry about your loss... bless you.
You might want to sign up for the National Do Not Call Registry. You have to register yearly and it takes a few weeks to kick in, but the calls DO stop.
The one time we did have a solicitation call, I informed them we were on the NDNCR, and they couldn't hang up fast enough. :-)
I’ll second that!
At my vacation house in FL, we get a couple of calls a week from a collection agency for someone named Jeffery but with our last name. No Jeffery’s in our family anywhere! We have been getting those calls for a couple of years. Every time I arrive and look at our answering machine, there are 25-30 calls on it from the same people.
Every now and then we pick up one of their calls and dutifully explain they have the wrong number or maybe if they told us who the “creditor” was we could clear it up for them.
Of course the Catch-22 is that since we are not Jeffery, they are not at liberty to discuss the account and must call back later! Over and Over and Over.
Now, I am happy just to waste their time.
They should have every right to go after the estate but not after the familys own assets unless they were turned over to them before death in an obvious ploy.
Sorry debts should be paid by the estate before the heirs get a penny.
We do the same at our house. If we don't recognize the number on the caller ID as someone we want to talk to, we simply don't answer the phone.
The hospital called on the day of my father’s funeral, over a small bill that the insurance had not paid. It was the insurance’s fault, but I can tell you I was very upset to answer the phone after coming back from the graveside to hear, “when can we expect payment on Mr. ____ account?” Not paying what my father legitimately owed was never a consideration, but when one says “he just died give me a few days to sort this out” and you get nastiness on the other end...you may lose it.
The doctor and the hospital both wrote us letters of apology.
Living wills are almost a must. They cut the attorneys out of sharing the estate almost totally.
Otherwise they take 6 + % of the estate, or work on an hourly basis for 2-3 hundred dollads an hour.
So very sorry for the loss of your mom. Prayers...
Yeeeeeears ago when my mother died, I got a call from on of these slugs. It was for an 'outstanding' hospital bill of a couple hundred bucks.
I told them, and not exactly nicely...
"Well, guess you'll have to sue my mother for it, but she's DEAD! So lot's of luck serving those court papers in heaven."I hung up and never heard another thing from them. Maybe they're just a bit more aggressive now. But its nothing new.
Now?! Obviously these writer never dealt with QWest. Those clowns refuse to comprehend when somebody is dead and send bill after bill after bill and make plenty of annoying phone calls. They give up eventually, very eventually.
Oh, thank God your a charity, I just lost my job, my wife is sick and my dog too. How do I apply for money from you?
Hello? Hello?
Generally speaking, and at least in the jurisdictions I’m aware of, when a person dies, leaving a will that is probated, the estate is required to publish notices for a lengthy period during which claims can be made against the estate.
After that time expires, the attorney or executor can determine the assets and liabilities, and disburse the residual funds to heirs to close out the estate.
Any creditor, especially collection agencies and credit card companies should have seen the notices and acted in a timely fashion. If they didn’t, I don’t see how they can try to collect from relatives. Not that that seems to stop them.
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