Credit car bill after death !
Discussion
My old Dad passed away about 18 months ago, and my mum has just let on he had a 10k credit card bill, we she has been paying off monthly since then, down to about 3k now. As far as I know she hadn't told the card company, and doesn't use it. Could the debt have been written off ? Or has she done the correct thing ?
Could have been written off.
There was a death in my extended family - the circumstances of which are a wee bit distressing...let's just say it was 'untimely.'
Anyway, it came to light that the deceased had a fairly comprehensive collection of credit-card debt. As the bills and letters rolled in, we just informed the creditors that the person was now deceased, so please go away and stop bothering us.
They went away and stopped bothering us.
There was a death in my extended family - the circumstances of which are a wee bit distressing...let's just say it was 'untimely.'
Anyway, it came to light that the deceased had a fairly comprehensive collection of credit-card debt. As the bills and letters rolled in, we just informed the creditors that the person was now deceased, so please go away and stop bothering us.
They went away and stopped bothering us.
If the account was your fathers alone then debt is his alone. When he died the estate is responsible for paying off the balance (not your mother). However if there were insufficient assets to cover the debts it should have been written off. However they would need to be notified to do this.
Was there a will and executor appointed? Assuming yes than they should do the following, if not you can do this but add a letter of authority signed by your mother authorising you to act on her behalf.
Call them immediately and explain the situtation and ask them to freeze the account pending written authoristions and notifications. They may refuse to discuss this quoting the Data Protection Act. If they do just point out you are not requesting information, but providing information.
Immediately follow up by posting copies of the death certificate, the will if it exists and/or the letter of authority signed by your mother.
Follow up with letter asking them for a proposal, they should freeze the debt without issue and even refund/offset the interest accumulated since the death.
If the balance needs to be paid really depends on two key issues, was it join or single account and the existence of significant (monetary) assets over liabilities in the estate.
If there were not sufficient assets to cover the debts, the estate is insolvent and the debts should have been written off. In that case I would make a claim for a refund of your mothers payments on the basis the debt was being serviced by her in fear of the consequences of not doing so.
I would wish you good luck, but you shouldn't actually need it. The worst case it that the remaining debt will simply go away and the best case your mother will get a refund very probably of her full payments.
Was there a will and executor appointed? Assuming yes than they should do the following, if not you can do this but add a letter of authority signed by your mother authorising you to act on her behalf.
Call them immediately and explain the situtation and ask them to freeze the account pending written authoristions and notifications. They may refuse to discuss this quoting the Data Protection Act. If they do just point out you are not requesting information, but providing information.
Immediately follow up by posting copies of the death certificate, the will if it exists and/or the letter of authority signed by your mother.
Follow up with letter asking them for a proposal, they should freeze the debt without issue and even refund/offset the interest accumulated since the death.
If the balance needs to be paid really depends on two key issues, was it join or single account and the existence of significant (monetary) assets over liabilities in the estate.
If there were not sufficient assets to cover the debts, the estate is insolvent and the debts should have been written off. In that case I would make a claim for a refund of your mothers payments on the basis the debt was being serviced by her in fear of the consequences of not doing so.
I would wish you good luck, but you shouldn't actually need it. The worst case it that the remaining debt will simply go away and the best case your mother will get a refund very probably of her full payments.
Edited by Martin4x4 on Friday 19th September 14:36
I don't see why she needs to send a copy of the will. The death certificate is all that is needed.
There are many permutations to the best way for her to proceed depending on the situation. Irrespective the card company need to be told and evidenced with the death certificate. If its linked to a high street bank then you can go in and see them.
How to clear the debt is another matter.
A bad scenario is the debt is larger than free (cash) assets but he had assets (maybe a share of the house). The estate still needs to clear the debt and they may struggle to do so without selling the house (hopefully unlikely but the elderly can get into all sorts of pickles regarding money).
If on the other hand the estate has little or no assets then this is a different matter. Unfortunately by trying to be helpful and paying the bill she may have given them money potentially without cause.
Its unusual to have joint liability for a credit card but common to have a secondary card holder which she may be. If this is the situation then she should stop using the card.
You would be well advised to see what else is wrong - utility bills in the wrong name, insurance in the wrong name etc etc. The credit card could be just the start.
There are many permutations to the best way for her to proceed depending on the situation. Irrespective the card company need to be told and evidenced with the death certificate. If its linked to a high street bank then you can go in and see them.
How to clear the debt is another matter.
A bad scenario is the debt is larger than free (cash) assets but he had assets (maybe a share of the house). The estate still needs to clear the debt and they may struggle to do so without selling the house (hopefully unlikely but the elderly can get into all sorts of pickles regarding money).
If on the other hand the estate has little or no assets then this is a different matter. Unfortunately by trying to be helpful and paying the bill she may have given them money potentially without cause.
Its unusual to have joint liability for a credit card but common to have a secondary card holder which she may be. If this is the situation then she should stop using the card.
You would be well advised to see what else is wrong - utility bills in the wrong name, insurance in the wrong name etc etc. The credit card could be just the start.
Thank you.
There are assets to cover this, although some have taken a while to be transferred into my Mothers name...but as pointed out I think a little intervention might freeze/refund the interest payments. She didn't want to tell them in case the bailiffs were round for the full amount straight away.
There are assets to cover this, although some have taken a while to be transferred into my Mothers name...but as pointed out I think a little intervention might freeze/refund the interest payments. She didn't want to tell them in case the bailiffs were round for the full amount straight away.
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