Martial Debt - Am I Responsible

[HPL66]

What is the name of your state? New York

My husband passed away 4 months ago. After his death he received letters from a Collection Attorney for medical bills incurred for our daughter. Since I was not responsible for the bills, I did not know that this was left over after insurance or this amount was due. I in turn forwared the attorney a copy of his death certificate. Now, I have been served a summons to pay these bills. Am I responsible for them? At the time the services were rendered, he was the responsible party, the child was under his insurance and he signed off as person financially responsible. They only found out my name because it was on the death certificate. Please advise if I should make arrangements to pay or show up in court on the summons and fight it...thank you.

 

[free_spirit_etc]

I am sorry to hear of your husband's death. My husband died in February, and I have been amazed at how the "rules" everyone plays by are very different than the ones I thought were in place.

I expected to have some time to breathe and settle some things. Expected to have people file claims, go through the time process, etc.

But - ACK! Everyone wants their money NOW! And they will use questionable means to obtain it. They don't seem to like to wait for Probate.

I don't know the answer to your question. I know in many states either parent would be legally responsible for the child's medical bills, regardless of who signed the agreement. In fact, in my state (Illinois) you can also be held responsible for your spouse's medical bills if their Estate lacks funds to pay them. I am lucky my husband was retired military and had good insurance coverage.

You could probably do a research on your state laws. But I would be inclined to say they probably could come against you for your daughter's medical bills.

However, has your husband's Estate been probated? Can you turn the bills in to the Estate to be paid from any funds the Estate may have?

If you have been sent a summons, you don't want to ignore it - or you could get a default judgment entered. You could go to court and arrange to make payments on the account. But if you find you will be held responsible, you might want to try negotiating a payment arrangement with the creditor - and requesting that the amount not be reported as a negative mark on YOUR credit.

Personally, I think creditors could give widows a LITTLE bit of time to recover from their husband's death before they start pushing for their money. But they usually want it yesterday.

Free

What is the name of your state? New York

My husband passed away 4 months ago. After his death he received letters from a Collection Attorney for medical bills incurred for our daughter. Since I was not responsible for the bills, I did not know that this was left over after insurance or this amount was due. I in turn forwared the attorney a copy of his death certificate. Now, I have been served a summons to pay these bills. Am I responsible for them? At the time the services were rendered, he was the responsible party, the child was under his insurance and he signed off as person financially responsible. They only found out my name because it was on the death certificate. Please advise if I should make arrangements to pay or show up in court on the summons and fight it...thank you.