• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

Responsibility for Deceased Parent's Medical Debt

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.

vauser

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Virginia

Virginia reader wants to know:

My mother died twelve months ago. During the three or four months that followed my mom's death I compiled a list of her remaining medical debts, paid all the medical bills of which I was aware, and subsequently distributed her remaining assets to her surviving family members. On the one-year anniversary of her death I received at my home address a hospital bill in my mom's name for $600, the net balance due following Medicare reimbursement. Are the beneficiaries of her estate responsible for this debt?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
 


seniorjudge

Senior Member
You need to check your state statutes.

GENERALLY there is a time limit for filing a claim against a decedent's estate.

You MAY be liable if there was money in her estate AND the claim was filed within the correct amount of time. Those are two big IFs.

Under what authority did you pay out all this stuff?
 

vauser

Junior Member
I had power of attorney to settle her estate, pay her taxes, pay judgments, and otherwise take care of her financial matters.
 

seniorjudge

Senior Member
A POA dies when the person who made it dies. So you were acting strictly as a volunteer.

Now, I'm assuming you didn't notify her creditors, either by publication in the newspaper or by letter or by any other means.

Answer this question: How much (in dollars) did you have of her property (real, personal, or mixed) did you have after you paid all the bills?

For example, you paid off $10K of her bills and you had a diamond ring, a car, and cash, all totaled worth $10K. (Hypothetical just to show you the answer I'm looking for.)

(Side question, did she own ANY real estate of any kind when she died?)

Another important question, is that you knew she was in the hospital and you knew the government benefit claim was filed but not paid at the time you distributed the stuff, right?

Don't let me put words in your mouth. I'm just trying to find out what you did.
 

nextwife

Senior Member
A power of attorney ceases at death.

Was probate ever opened? Were you legally appointed by the probate court to handle her estate? Why did you distribute the assets so quickly? We held a set of funds aside for well over a year to make certain we covered the final tax filing and any previously unknown creditors.
 

vauser

Junior Member
There were assets in her estate such that, after her other bills were paid, I could easily have paid this bill also. I simply failed to account for it. Her medicare account statements undoutedly indicated that this claim was in work but I didn't observe it.

The bottom line I suppose is that, without regard to whether there is liability in a legal sense, I'll hunt down enough money from the beneficiaries to settle the bill.
 

seniorjudge

Senior Member
The bottom line I suppose is that, without regard to whether there is liability in a legal sense, I'll hunt down enough money from the beneficiaries to settle the bill.
Don't expect them to rush to front to help you.

The easiest and cheapest way for you to take care of this is for you to pay it immediately. If some collection agency or law firm gets hold of it, it will blossom into a two or three thousand dollar liability. And they have lots of time and money to go after you.

After you pay it, then you can work on the other beneficiaries.

As nexie said, you disbursed this way too early. Not to make you feel any worse than you do already, but this was all your doing and you'll have to clean it up.
 

Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top