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I have been paying on a retail cc for charges I made using my parent's account with their permission. Since his death no further charges have been made, but because I morally thought it my obligation to pay my portion of the charges I have continued to make payments. Thou the balance has dwindled, it still is not paid off I have exceeded the amount I charged. Can they make me continue paying. He died 16 months ago and no notice of death was sent to the company.

Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 10:32 am Subject:

My condolences on your loss. Normally, unsecured creditors would be paid form the estate after the secured creditor's claims have been satisfied. If there is no estate remaining, then the unsecured creditors will generally have to write off the debt. Unless you are a joint account holder, you have no financial responsibility whatsoever. Send each creditor a copy of the death certificate with an explanatory letter CMRRR. Also, if it has not already been done, send the same info to the CRA's so no further accounts can be opened.

Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 10:36 am Subject:

When my father died, he had several credit cards and other debts. Whenever I received a bill or collection notice, I would send a copy of it back to the creditor with a note written accross it stating that he was deceased. I attached a copy of the death certificate to it. Most of them wrote off the accounts right away. A few of them kept selling it to different collection agencies, and then I would send them the same notice. None of them ever tried to say that I was responsible for the debts. None of the balances were mine, but legally I don't think it would make a difference in your case because you were not the person who was legally obligated to pay the bill.

ursusmaritius · Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 10:43 am Subject:

Thank you all for the speedy response. I sorta expected that the consensus would be that I'm not responsible. I just want to know before I "pull the payments". One additional note, because I was making the payments online through my banking account, the CC doesn't have any write to "tap" into my account do they?

NASCARDEVIL - what is CMRRR?

Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 10:49 am Subject:

Certified Mail Return Receipt Requested

The CC company has no right to try and pull from your account. It's likely they didn't care where the payments came from while they were being made. They might take a closer look at who's name was on the checking account. Don't be surprised if they attempt to pressure you into paying the debts.

Guest · Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 10:57 am Subject:

I don't want any hassles from creditors. Some years ago I went through that nightmare for my own debits and it was not fun. Does a death certificate basically end their pursuit of the debt?

Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 11:13 am Subject: reply

it certainly should,but some bottomfeeders don't care about stuff like that.

Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 11:18 am Subject:

They should write the debt off completely and not add it to any portfolio of CO'd accounts they sell off to a JDB but mistakes do happen. In the absence of an estate, the death certificate should be sufficient to extinguish the existence of the debt in its entirety.

Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 11:37 am Subject:

condolences on the loss of your dad ... I miss mine every day!

Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 11:40 am Subject:

As I said previously, with my dad, there were some accounts that kept getting sold from collector to collector, and I had to keep notifying the new collector. I think those accounts may have already been with collectors at the time of his death, I'm not sure.

txgirl · Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 11:17 am Subject: estate details

I am going through the exact same situation. My mom died in April and my father in June. I sent copies of both death certificates along with a note saying there were no assets. I am now starting to get letters at their home addressed to the Estate of ... I am just going to send them back unopened. How can I prove there is no estate?

Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 1:06 pm Subject:

I never had to prove there wasn't an estate. I just opened them, wrote a note on the front, copied it for my records, enclosed a copy of the death certificate, and mailed it. I suppose they could try suing the estate, but if there are no assets, it wouldn't really do them any good . . .

Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 1:59 pm Subject:

What did you put in the note you sent back? When I sent the initial dc's with their credit card bills, I said they had both died and they lived on a fixed income. When they died, their income ended and they had no assets. I guess I naively thought that would stop the notes but I guess the creditors still have to try to get some money back. I just worry that if I open them, and then send them back, they know they have made contact and will continue to harrass me. But if this has worked for you, maybe I should try doing it your way. I just thought by sending the items back unopened with the post office marking them as unclaimed, that might work too. Also, how long did it take for you to stop getting notices.

Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 3:08 pm Subject:

I just wrote a note saying that my father had died and there were no assets, and to please write off the balance. I enclosed a copy of the death certificate with it and kept copies for my records. Some creditors did take longer than others to get the message, and some balances were sold a couple of times and I had to send new notices. The truth is that even three or four years after his death, I was still getting occasional notices in the mail. I just responded the same way. Other than sending the notices, none of them ever tried to contact me in any other way or pursue it any further than that.

Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 7:47 am Subject:

Did you send certified death certificates each time? I did when I sent them to the individual creditors. If I need originals, I will need to get additional copies which can get quite expensive. If I can just use photocopies, that would be easier and cheaper.

Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 9:16 am Subject:

I just used photocopies, even the first time. I only sent certified copies to very few places, the bank is really the only one that comes to mind. If someone requests a certified copy, you could always get one then.

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