What is included in the probate?

What is the name of your state? West Virginia
My dad passed away in January 2008 unexpectedly. My mom was left with about $25, 000 in debt, no claim to his retirement, and no income. She filed a probate and since she has been contacted by a creditor for a debt on a credit card with his name only on it. She paid them $5, 000 toward the $8,000 debt which was all she had and discussed with them her stituation and she didn't know if ever she would have the rest of the money to pay the bill. The probate is over now. Do they still have claim to this money? I'm not trying to be cheap, I'm just worried about a widowed mother with no income. How long does a company have to place claim on the assets of the estate? Also, are medical bills covered under this time frame of the probate or is it a completely different thing? She hasn't received any collection notices for the medical bills which were incurred with his illness leading to his death. The insurance has paid their part on most of them so far. Is she liable for these debts and if not, will they come back to haunt her? I know these are alot of questions, but I've been flooded with them since his passing.

why does she have no claim to his retirement? did he have a 401K at work or something?

The company my dad worked for was bought out and he retired from them and worked for the new company for 2 years before injuring his knee and being declared disabled. When they signed the papers on his retirement they went to an advisor for the company, since they were confused with the way the retirement was worded. He told the advisor he wanted my mom to receive part of his retirement in the event of his death. She said ok, you need to sign here then and they did.

My husband was in the air force and we were all the way across the country when this happened, so they didn't ask me about it. I remember my dad telling me how much my mom would get a month when he passed.

When he passed I read over his paperwork from the company and found out about his retirement. I don't think there is anything she can do about it now.

Wow, pretty useless forum for me I guess. Thanks all that took time to look at it.

The "Estate" is responsible for his debts. If your mom was not a party to the credit card debt-She is not responsible for it. Medical bills would depend on whether she signed anything as the person responsible for his bills with the doctors and hospital. If there are no assets left in the Estate, the credit card company has nothing to collect from. They will still try to get her to pay them. She may need to officially advise them not to contact her about the debt except in writing. This means send them a certified letter advising them that it is not her debt . Sounds like he was advised incorrectly on his retirement & probably got a larger payment monthly while he was alive. Your mom would still have Social Security benefits as his widow.