Do I still have to pay child support for my deceased husband?

[maverick92]

I live in California. My husband lived here too. His ex wife and children lived in California when they got divorced and the child support was arranged. His ex and their children currently live in Arkansas.

My husband had two children with his ex. He had to pay $650 a month in child support. Several years ago he got sick which made it hard for him to work. I was fully supporting him and I also started paying his child support.

The other day I was going over some unrelated financial stuff with my friend (who is also my accountant). I had forgotten about the child support until we were looking through statements. It's set up so that the money was automatically transferred once a month to his ex's account. So for the past 4 months it's continued to transfer the money. Given that I don't have a relationship with his children and my husband is no longer here I was going to stop the auto transfers. However my friend was telling me that I may still be on the hook for the payments since I was supporting my husband for several years before he died.

It that true? Do I have to keep paying this? If so how long do I have to pay this for?

 

[AlmostThere]

Was your husband in arrears at the time of death?

 

[stealth2]

My condolences on your loss. Memory eternal.

Maybe a lawyer would be a better source than an accountant friend? I suspect you (or the executor) would have to file with the court to have the support end.

 

[Zigner]

I live in California. My husband lived here too. His ex wife and children lived in California when they got divorced and the child support was arranged. His ex and their children currently live in Arkansas.

My husband had two children with his ex. He had to pay $650 a month in child support. Several years ago he got sick which made it hard for him to work. I was fully supporting him and I also started paying his child support.

The other day I was going over some unrelated financial stuff with my friend (who is also my accountant). I had forgotten about the child support until we were looking through statements. It's set up so that the money was automatically transferred once a month to his ex's account. So for the past 4 months it's continued to transfer the money. Given that I don't have a relationship with his children and my husband is no longer here I was going to stop the auto transfers. However my friend was telling me that I may still be on the hook for the payments since I was supporting my husband for several years before he died.

It that true? Do I have to keep paying this? If so how long do I have to pay this for?

YOU won't specifically be on the hook for anything, so your friend is wrong about that.
However, his estate may be (likely is) still liable for any child support arrearages, which is why @AlmostThere asked the question.

 

[maverick92]

Was your husband in arrears at the time of death?

He wasn't behind on paying any child support.

 

[adjusterjack]

Are the automatic transfers coming out of your bank account, his separate account, or a joint account?

 

[zddoodah]

However my friend was telling me that I may still be on the hook for the payments since I was supporting my husband for several years before he died.

It that true? Do I have to keep paying this? If so how long do I have to pay this for?

No, it's not true, and please ask your friend to stop speaking about subjects about which she is ignorant. If there were any arrears owed at the time of death, then his estate would remain liable, but his continuing obligation ended when he died.

 

[maverick92]

Are the automatic transfers coming out of your bank account, his separate account, or a joint account?

It was coming out of my bank account.

 

[maverick92]

No, it's not true, and please ask your friend to stop speaking about subjects about which she is ignorant. If there were any arrears owed at the time of death, then his estate would remain liable, but his continuing obligation ended when he died.

That's why she said "may" and suggested I look more into it before I did anything. I think it was very helpful of her to bring it up just in case.

 

[Zigner]

That's why she said "may" and suggested I look more into it before I did anything. I think it was very helpful of her to bring it up just in case.

I agree that she was trying to be helpful, but she really ought not to speak about things that she doesn't know about. It's fine to say "Hey, you better make sure about ...", but saying "Hey, you're going to be responsible for it" is entirely different. Your friend was really on a fine line between the two.

 

[maverick92]

I agree that she was trying to be helpful, but she really ought not to speak about things that she doesn't know about. It's fine to say "Hey, you better make sure about ...", but saying "Hey, you're going to be responsible for it" is entirely different. Your friend was really on a fine line between the two.

I disagree. Her saying " I may be responsible" and telling me that I should look into it is the same the same as the "hey, you better make sure". She was also the one that referred me to this website to double check in the first place. I did get some more insight here so she wasn't trying to be helpful. She just was helpful.

 

[Zigner]

I disagree. Her saying " I may be responsible" and telling me that I should look into it is the same the same as the "hey, you better make sure". She was also the one that referred me to this website to double check in the first place. I did get some more insight here so she wasn't trying to be helpful. She just was helpful.

Fair enough - you were wise to verify.

 

[stealth2]

Let's dial it back, folks. Sounds like the friend was suggesting maverick look into it. I still suggest speaking with an attorney. You're probably not liable moving forward, but there may be paperwork involved to make sure everything's done properly.

 

[adjusterjack]

It was coming out of my bank account.

Not legal advice but I think it would be prudent for you to stop the transfers of your money ASAP. You have no personal obligation.

If the estate has any obligation, you can deal with it later.

 

[LdiJ]

I assume that the mother of the children is aware that your husband has passed away? If she is, then she should be expecting the child support to end and has probably applied for SS benefits for her children to replace the support. If not, then it might be courteous to notify her that he has passed away so that she has some warning in case her budget is tight. Personally, for the sake of the children I would give her 60 days warning that the support was going to end...that you have only personally been paying it as a courtesy.