Is Wife Responsible For Medical Bills?

[+METHOS]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
-Missouri

I am trying to help my stepmother. She is Chinese and her English is limited. She is now an American citizen. My father was the primary provider. They were married at the time of treatment until his death.

My father recently passed away after battling cancer for three years. Some of the hospital bills were covered under my stepmother's insurance (from her workplace), however, the bulk of it was covered under my father's insurance while he could still work. That said, the remaining balance that is due is still several thousand dollars. I do not believe that my stepmother ever signed for anything, but there is a very small possibility that she may have signed something when the insurance plan was changed over to hers. Is she responsible for this debt?

Thank you.

 

[Ladyback1]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
-Missouri

I am trying to help my stepmother. She is Chinese and her English is limited. She is now an American citizen. My father was the primary provider. They were married at the time of treatment until his death.

My father recently passed away after battling cancer for three years. Some of the hospital bills were covered under my stepmother's insurance (from her workplace), however, the bulk of it was covered under my father's insurance while he could still work. That said, the remaining balance that is due is still several thousand dollars. I do not believe that my stepmother ever signed for anything, but there is a very small possibility that she may have signed something when the insurance plan was changed over to hers. Is she responsible for this debt?

Thank you.

Your father's estate is responsible for the bills (whether that is you, your mother, an attorney, etc.)

 

[Silverplum]

See here: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&ei=AjD2U5rvFMb_yQTizICABg&url=https://www.mobar.org/uploadedFiles/Home/Publications/Legal_Resources/Brochures_and_Booklets/Probate_Law_Resource_Guide/full.pdf&cd=6&ved=0CDAQFjAF&usg=AFQjCNEh9T8SzbxVmXmT7Zq1dMHBOvlt7Q

I'm sorry for your loss.

 

[+METHOS]

Thank you for your responses.

There is no will in place. Nothing has been done regarding any sort of probate. He rented his home. His car was just transferred in to her name. Other than that, he does have a small 401k plan and a life insurance policy.

Thank you.

Edit:
I should note, that, the woman that I spoke to at the hospital that was part of the financial department (because we are trying to apply for their hardship program to have some of the debt waived), said that the spouse is probably the one person that they can go after to repay the debt. Of course, she is not a lawyer, so I am reluctant to believe that too easily. My stepmother is currently trying to build her credit to be eligible for a home loan, so I am trying to gather all of the facts so that I can help her make the best decisions.

Thanks.

Edit2:

Your father's estate is responsible for the bills (whether that is you, your mother, an attorney, etc.)

-Rereading this, it does not make sense to me. I assumed that the estate was defined by property.

 

[+METHOS]

Can anyone confirm what the lady at the hospital is telling us? In order to apply for the financial hardship program that the hospital has in place, we must first apply for medicaid and provide a lot of documentation, showing all and everything regarding any assets/money, and that is going to take some time. If we know, beforehand, that paying that debt is not her responsibility, it will save us a lot of time and heartache.

Thank you all for taking the time. I do appreciate it.

 

[LdiJ]

Can anyone confirm what the lady at the hospital is telling us? In order to apply for the financial hardship program that the hospital has in place, we must first apply for medicaid and provide a lot of documentation, showing all and everything regarding any assets/money, and that is going to take some time. If we know, beforehand, that paying that debt is not her responsibility, it will save us a lot of time and heartache.

Thank you all for taking the time. I do appreciate it.

I think that you are going to have to consult with a local probate attorney. I have done some googling and I cannot find a clear answer. In some states under the "doctrine of necessaries" a spouse is equally responsible for the medical debt of the other spouse. However, I cannot find a clear answer as to whether or not Missouri is one of those states, and if so, how their law is applied. Based on what I have been reading, the doctrine of necessaries laws are not uniform across the states that have them.

 

[+METHOS]

Thank you for your reply.

What you are saying is exactly what I have concluded. It seems unclear, so probably best to ask an attorney.

Thanks.

 

[Ohiogal]

Thank you for your responses.

There is no will in place. Nothing has been done regarding any sort of probate. He rented his home. His car was just transferred in to her name. Other than that, he does have a small 401k plan and a life insurance policy.

The car was part of the estate. Completely and totally. It needed sold to pay his debts.
How was it transferred in to her name? If the 401k and life insurance had beneficiaries listed, they pass outside of the estate.

Thank you.

Edit:
I should note, that, the woman that I spoke to at the hospital that was part of the financial department (because we are trying to apply for their hardship program to have some of the debt waived), said that the spouse is probably the one person that they can go after to repay the debt. Of course, she is not a lawyer, so I am reluctant to believe that too easily. My stepmother is currently trying to build her credit to be eligible for a home loan, so I am trying to gather all of the facts so that I can help her make the best decisions.

Thanks.

Edit2:
-Rereading this, it does not make sense to me. I assumed that the estate was defined by property.

No. The estate is defined by anything a decedent has.

 

[+METHOS]

The car was part of the estate. Completely and totally. It needed sold to pay his debts.
How was it transferred in to her name?

-I'm not sure. I believe she had to fill out some forms, but I recall the lady at the DMV saying that it was necessary, and that one vehicle could be transferred to the surviving spouse or something.

No. The estate is defined by anything a decedent has.

-Right...in other words, not a person.

 

[Ohiogal]

-I'm not sure. I believe she had to fill out some forms, but I recall the lady at the DMV saying that it was necessary, and that one vehicle could be transferred to the surviving spouse or something.

-Right...in other words, not a person.

Okay. The lady at the DMV matters not. She is NOT a lawyer. But continue. Your stepmother needs an attorney and needs to realize she may have issues -- SEVERE issues -- because the car was an asset of the estate and if she was NOT on the title, the hospital could claim it was a fraudulent transfer because she KNEW or SHOULD HAVE KNOWN about the medical bills.

 

[+METHOS]

The lady at the DMV matters not. She is NOT a lawyer. But continue. Your stepmother needs an attorney and needs to realize she may have issues -- SEVERE issues -- because the car was an asset of the estate and if she was NOT on the title, the hospital could claim it was a fraudulent transfer because she KNEW or SHOULD HAVE KNOWN about the medical bills.

-She knows very little English, let alone, the law regarding this sort of thing. I don't even know, which is why I am here. Nobody told us we needed an attorney for anything. I can't imagine they would claim it was a fraudulent transfer given the circumstances. We honestly did what we thought we were supposed to.

 

[Ohiogal]

There's no reason to be like that.

-She knows very little English, let alone, the law regarding this sort of thing. I don't even know, which is why I am here. Nobody told us we needed an attorney for anything. I can't imagine they would claim it was a fraudulent transfer given the circumstances. We honestly did what we thought we were supposed to.

To my comment:

No. The estate is defined by anything a decedent has.

Your father is the decedent.

And ignorance of the law IS NOT an excuse. She can very well be held liable for her husband's medical expenses. AND the hospital can claim that her transferring the vehicle into her name was done fraudulently as they are OWED money from the estate and the car was part of the estate. But continue on. Your stepmother TRANSFERRED SOMETHING out of the estate into her name and wants to claim ignorance. That is NOT a defense. Get an attorney.

 

[+METHOS]

I responded to the fact that there is NO PERSON. YOU said that. Would you like to read it again?


To my comment:

Your father is the decedent.

You responded:

you are ignorant to legal terminology and have no clue of what you speak and what to be insulted by your own ignorance. Which makes this YOUR problem. Not mine.

All I was asking, simply, is that, the estate refers to property, not a person. I realize that my father is the decedent, but when this reply was made:

Your father's estate is responsible for the bills (whether that is you, your mother, an attorney, etc.)

It was confusing because she implied that the responsibility fell on a person. Hopefully you can understand the confusion and stop being so rude.

And ignorance of the law IS NOT an excuse. She can very well be held liable for her husband's medical expenses. AND the hospital can claim that her transferring the vehicle into her name was done fraudulently as they are OWED money from the estate and the car was part of the estate. But continue on. Your stepmother TRANSFERRED SOMETHING out of the estate into her name and wants to claim ignorance. That is NOT a defense. Get an attorney.

-I believe this is what the lady at the DMV was referring to:

http://dor.mo.gov/faq/motorv/general.php#q27

Like you said, I am probably too ignorant to comprehend, but it seems as though what we did was okay.

 

[Silverplum]

See here: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&ei=AjD2U5rvFMb_yQTizICABg&url=https://www.mobar.org/uploadedFiles/Home/Publications/Legal_Resources/Brochures_and_Booklets/Probate_Law_Resource_Guide/full.pdf&cd=6&ved=0CDAQFjAF&usg=AFQjCNEh9T8SzbxVmXmT7Zq1dMHBOvlt7Q

I'm sorry for your loss.

Did you read it?

 

[+METHOS]

Did you read it?

-Of course.