- quote -

Oh, Tad, only if my husband predeceases me.

Elizabeth

Elizabeth Richardson wrote:
- quote -


Elizabeth, would you settle for a mannerly orderly?

-Tad
Eats, Shoots & Leaves....

- quote -

That's eventually what I want to do: die in an orderly manner. But, frankly,
I think I'd rather it be under medical supervision.

Elizabeth Richardson

- quote -

I'm not a trusts and estates lawyer, but I have served as executor once
and I have a basic understanding of this issue.

First, we need to know who is liable for the credit card debt. If the
lender extended credit to the decedent *alone* then the widow is NOT
responsible for the outstanding balances at the time of death. At least
the widow is not *directly* responsible. Rather, the lenders should be
repaid from the decedent's ESTATE. There are two ways the executor could
play this. He could take the initiative and pay off the credit card
balances using the assets in the estate. But it sounds like there are
insufficient assets to do this. If that's the case, then the executor
should notify each lender that the borrower is dead and then it will be up
to the lenders to file a claim against the estate in probate court. Some
lenders won't go to the trouble, especially if the amount owed is less
than it would cost to file a claim against the estate. Other lenders will
file a claim. Once everybody has filed their claim against the estate,
there are well-settled rules regarding who gets paid. That's why there are
probate courts. (Digression: Everybody loves to rail against "probate,"
but it does serve a useful purpose in wrapping up the financial and legal
affairs of people who die in an orderly manner under court supervision.)

Again, this analysis assumes the credit card lenders extended credit to
the decedent ALONE. If that's the case, the widow does NOT need to use
*any* of her life insurance money to pay off the lenders. She may feel
morally obligated to do so. But unless she was "on" the credit cards the
lenders cannot seek to recover the debt from her. They are limited to
filing a claim against the estate. (If the widow *was* on the credit
cards, she's got a big problem. Bankruptcy may be the only answer.)

Of course, it's common for the widow to inherit her husband's assets. So
when all is said and done, every dollar the lenders collect from the
estate comes out of the widow's pocket. (That's why I said she is not
"directly" responsible for the credit card debt.) But if the decedent's
debts exceed his assets, the probate process will result in the lenders
writing off the difference and (unless I'm missing something) the widow
will be able to keep the life insurance payout.

"HW "Skip" Weldon" <skip5700removethis[at]hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:2a5bl050b22t3fcjv93i05fjqq0ue2g99n[at]4ax.com...
- quote -

The first thing she needs to do is to check with the credit card companies
and see if her husband purchased credit life insurance on the cards. Many
more people have this than realize. There can be some restrictions, but
sometimes you get lucky - it won't hurt to check.

Next, she should meet with an attorney well versed in credit and bankruptcy
issues BEFORE she does anything besides check for credit life on the cards.
Your post doesn't give us enough details to tell, but if the cards were her
husband's alone she may not be on the hook for them to begin with.

The attorney can also advise her about her responsibility for any medical
bills.

Life insurance, if it set up correctly, is usually beyond the reach of most
creditors - including the credit card companies and the hospital IF the
circumstances are right.

Good luck,
Gene E. Utterback, EA

- quote -

If it were not her debt, and her husband has/d no estate, I'd seek to have the
slate cleaned (period). I'd write a letter/call telling the companies that her
husband is deceased and that there are no funds to satisfy HIS debts. I'd wait
for their response, making no commitments, offers, or personal revelations.

If the debt is expunged, I don't see how it could impact on her credit. If the
ESTATE is bankrupt, again, I don't see how that could impact on her credit.

There could be other factors which an attorney might better address but I'd try
to find a simple way out before going that far.


"Jack" - John H. Fisher - TaxService[at]aol.com
Philadelphia, Pa - Atlantic City, NJ - West Wildwood, NJ
My Newsgroups & Boards at: http://members.aol.com/TaxService/index.html

Where Ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise!=

In article <2a5bl050b22t3fcjv93i05fjqq0ue2g99n[at]4ax.com> , HW \"Skip\"
Weldon <skip5700removethis[at]hotmail.com> wrote:

- quote -

Yes and yes. Not paying in full will be a major black mark on
her credit rating. Not quite as bad as a bankruptcy, but the
next worse thing.

Just alerting the credit card companies might have them do a
re-evaluation of her credit worthiness. If even one of them
de-rates her credit, all of the other cards might choose to
crank up the rates to the maximum.

While a good credit report and paying off debt might be a nice
thing in an ideal world, this lady has just had her world
destroyed, and she needs to worry about survival. If she
wants to do something nice for the credit card companies, bake
them some cookies.

In the mean time, she needs to see an attorney and plan a strategy
to figure out how to live. You didn't say how old she is and if
working is an option. It might be. The better option in this case
might be to file bankruptcy and get rid of the debt. Issues to
figure out would be how much of the insurance she would lose, and
what the status of her home would be.

-john-

--
================================================== ==================
John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708 john[at]johnweeks.com
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
================================================== ==================

Widow lost husband last month from expensive cancer. He left her
heavily in debt with credit cards. She does not have cash flow to
continue payments. Using limited life insurance funds, she can pay
off 15% of all credit balances and is thinking of writing companies to
see if they would wipe slate clean for 15%.

Questions:
Would doing this affect her credit rating (do credit cards report
this)?
Would merely writing the letter affect her credit rating?


-HW "Skip" Weldon
Columbia, SC