I’m not sure what to do here. My Mom passed back in January after months in the hospital in New Jersey. She really didn’t have much. I was named as an executor of her will but we had the worse relationship where we barely spoke. My brother was co-executor as well.
She lived in an apartment that we had to empty and she was a hoarder. We paid her last month of rent with what she had in her bank account. She had an older late car from 2008 that we had to probate to sell it. It’s worth $3800 at best given its condition.
After the funeral expenses she had no liquid cash. She had a state pension that I think I’m receiving half of $4000. The funeral we had to pay out of our own pocket. I didn’t want my brother to pay for everything even though I would have been fine just walking away from the whole thing.
So my question is what do I do with these credit card mailings asking me to pay for her credit card balances. I was not in any way tied to her finances. Not on her bank statements, zero. She was a compulsive spender too. We found at least 25 credit cards in her desk still active…
My Mom passed away broke but I’m getting collection notices for her.
byu/SummiluxAP inpersonalfinance
Posted by SummiluxAP
15 Comments
Consult an attorney. If there is money after funeral expenses the estate may owe.
I’m so sorry to hear of your mother’s passing.
Her estate (if anything remains) is responsible for her debts. You are not. Inform them of your mother’s death. Do not agree to pay anything.
Zev
Call each one them and let them know she passed away. They’ll ask for a death certificate. My dad passed away during covid. We had a similar situation. They can’t come after you. Just have to let them all know she passed.
If it is her debt and only her debt and there is nothing left in the estate, let them know she is deceased. There is nothing they can do. Debt is not yours and will have to be eaten by them.
Write deceased on envelope, return to sender
When my father in law passed, they sent letters to my mother in law even though the debt was just in his name, she told them he’s at “insert cemetery name” you can reach him there.
This is a legal question not a personal finance one. If probate has begun as you say, then probate is the venue to handle these creditor claims. Speak with an attorney.
Send copies of the death certificate to each creditor. You are not responsible for her debts. So sorry for your loss.
So you’re thinking you’re responsible for her debt? Pretty sure in US States, that’s not how it works. Like others said, her estate is the thing that lives on as a legal entity, but the debt does not belong to you by virtue of you being her son. It remains as her debt / her estate’s debt.
Both of my parents are dead and the only thing I had to pay with what little money was left if their accounts were their rents. Everything else I made phone calls and I was not responsible for any other debts. I only had a few death certificates and most just wanted a copy anyway. I’m sorry for the loss of your mother, it’s so difficult to navigate with being so sad and emotional. One day at a time.
Make sure to get plenty of copies of the death certificate from the probate office. You’ll just need to call each creditor and tell them she passed. They’ll each ask for a copy of the death certificate. You will not owe anything.
Everyone here is correct. Ive been through this as well. Just 3 things to add. If your state has it, file an insolvent estate affidavit at the probate office. This just shows the estate has no credits compared to debts, so you need a decent idea of this. Don’t forget to file her taxes, if she died this year before filing 2025, you’ll need to file this and next year. Someone may try to file ahead of you when they see the death notice, dont be surprised and contact the IRS if it happens, they’ll help you. Lastly, this confusion and constant figuring stuff out will last about a year. Creditors will find you and call you, even months later. As others noted, just say sge died and the estate is insolvent they will be super nice and leave you alone. You will feel like you are dealing with all this forever, but eventually it will go away, people will stop contacting you and life will go back to normal. Sorry for your loss.
You definitely need to speak with an attorney and not the very educated experts here on Reddit. After passing, the estate is responsible for debts owed, however they’re likely is some recourse that you can take to protect your own assets. You might want to have that attorney contact them directly on your behalf, a threatening phone call from your lawyer will remind them what a pain in the acid is to take a state that lacks any assets to probate to court and ask a judge the issue summary and or garnishment against the surviving heirs.
Send each company her death certificate. They may still try to get their money, but if her estate has nothing to give them, they’ll have to write it off. You didn’t sign the user agreement with them.
At NO point should you pay 1 penny to these debts. If you do, you will assume these debts. It is your mother’s estate to settle these debts. It is the responsibility of the estate’s executors to settle these debts using the estate’s remaining assets. If there are no remaining assets, then the executors will then inform the debtors that there is no asset in the estate to settle these debts.
It may be worthwhile to consult with an attorney that can draft a letter to all these debtors.