Credit Card Debt/Divorce Decree/Suicide

[Ms.Fausey]

I live in Great Falls, Montana.

I was divorced in Summer of 2000.

In my divorce decree, it states that my ex-husband shall pay a debt to GE (a credit card debt) of which I am the primary card holder.

He was fairly consistent about paying the bill every month, with just a few exceptions when he was short of cash, but he had always paid me back when I had to pay the bill.

He committed suicide last weekend. His fiance called me a few days after he did this to tell me that he would not be paying the bill, due to his death.

I have confirmed his death with a county sheriff, the coroner.

How do I go about having his estate pay off this debt?

He was living with a woman and shared a bank account with her. She has no money, works in a coffee shop.

He had/has many many thousands of dollars of computer equipment and electronics and weapons in his home. He also has a storage facility with many other valuable items. I'm pretty sure he had no life insurance.

He was not married, but was engaged. Before the suicide, he broke his fiance's finger trying to remove the engagement ring. The woman had left him for a three month period. I believe they lived together for less than one year.

His mother came to retrieve his body. No funeral was held; no announcement was made in the paper. She has returned to Florida, to my knowledge.

What should I do now? The debt is in the amount of about $5,700.00. Other than this debt, I have no consumer debt, but I cannot afford this payment.

How much will I have to pay a lawyer, if I need to avail myself of his/her services? Will I actually have to pay or will his (ex-husband's) estate pay?


Thank you, kindly, for any assistance you may be able to offer.

Nichole L. Fausey

 

[advisor10]

12-19-2001

DEAR NICHOLE:

My condolences on the passing of your ex-husband. You forgot to mention what state he died in, but I assume it is also in Montana.

Your situation is a little bit complicated. The good news is that technically, your husband's estate is still liable for this bill. If there are not enough assets in his estate to be able to pay it, then the estate is technically bankrupt and the amount may have to remain unpaid. If any collectors contact you about it, you should be firm in stating that the estate is responsible and that they should send their request for payment to the executor of the estate.

Was your husband employed with a company? It is possible that there might be insurance or job benefits available there that his estate could claim, so don't give up yet. You should try to keep in contact with his fiance on a periodic basis, perhaps every month contact her to find out who is going to file at the courthouse to be executor of your husband's estate--or if you don't want to talk to her, contact the county courthouse probate court to find out that information.

However, you also forgot to mention whether it was YOU or your husband who made most of the purchases with the credit card. If it was you, then as primary cardholder, the credit card COULD (if they feel like it) come back to request payment from you, since legally you would still be liable for the debt. A lot will depend on how aggressive the credit card company will be in trying to get payment--in most cases, the debts eventually go unpaid and after about a year or more, they write them off as bad debts. Other times they feel bad about collecting from estates and may forgive the debt. But with this substantial amount, if the estate can't afford to pay, then they will probably ask you to try to make any payments at all (whatever you can afford, possibly about $25 a month or whatever--they will be satisfied with anything at all that you can afford as long as you make regular payments on a monthly basis).

I am not familiar with Montana law, so you really do need to speak to a local attorney about this. The first consultation is usually free, so call 2-3 attorneys in your area and they can properly advise you about this.

SINCERELY,

advisor

 

[Ms.Fausey]

First off, thank you for your great response.

My ex-husband died in Montana.

I was the primary card holder and he was an authorized user.

The woman with whom I spoke, at GE, said she could only see that there were two transactions on the card. One was made in December 1999. It was a check, a credit card check, for 8000.00. She is trying to get me a copy of that check. My memory is really vague about that time. I was constantly stressed, he was extremely abusive and I went along with whatever he wanted to do to keep him happy. I don't remember the circumstances there. I may have even signed the check. I seriously do not recall.

Then there was one other purchase and that was in May 2000. He bought a handgun at a local sporting goods store. I definitely remember that purchase because he bought the gun on Mother's Day. That purchase was in the amount of 349.00.

I will try that idea with GE that his estate is responsible for that bill, but I don't think they will go for it because I was the primary card holder. I will try it, though. Worth a shot.


My Ex-Husband (Marc) was not employed except through work/study at the University of Great Falls, where he was a senior and would have graduated the next day (day after his suicide). I'm pretty sure he had no insurance at all.

To my knowledge, the girl is going to sell everything in the apartment. I don't know how to keep her from doing that.

If I have to actually pay this debt, what about Marc's things? He has thousands of dollars of electronics and other high priced items in his apartment. If I have to pay a debt of 5700.00, do I get the stuff to go with it?

Forgive me if I sound calloused. He was extremely abusive and even more so to his current fiance.

I just don't want to have to pay for things that aren't mine.

Other than this, I have no consumer debt at all. I do not buy things on credit. I just started a business and this is going to really hurt my ability to carry on and promote it.

I can't really afford a lawyer. I was advised to seek out pre-paid legal services. Do you know anything about them? Would they even cover something like this, or are they just for situations in which one is being sued by someone else?

Thank you, kindly for your response.
Happy Holidays.

Nichole L. Fausey

 

[advisor10]

12-21-2001

DEAR NICHOLE:

At the very least, you should contact the business office of the university where this man was a student and ask them IF there is a possibility that some type of insurance coverage is provided for students.

If you want to claim his belongings, you should file at the probate court/county courthouse to be personal administrator/executor of his estate (which would soon result in you being granted legal papers granting you authority to claim his belongings). Even if she has sold of or disposed of his belongings, you could request reimbursement for them since she had no authority to do that if you are on record as the official executor.

Prepaid legal services generally has a good reputation for assisting people with simple situations, although I have no idea if they are experienced in probate matters--you would have to ask them that question before you decide on using them. I am guessing that they may have not much experience in that area, and so I would be somewhat reluctant to use them.

It is probably going to be too much trouble to try to get any money from the personal possessions. Your best best is to keep stalling the creditor for a long time by insisting that his estate is legally obligated for this specific debt, and then reluctantly agreeing to pay whatever you can on a monthly or weekly basis in the future if they are aggressive about asking for payment.