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My mother passed away on Halloween last year in California. I am located in South Carolina. I had her ashes sent to me along with the death certificate. She only has one bank account which is a savings and I am not listed as a beneficiary nor did she leave a POA. She has multiple medical bills that I had forwarded to me and my concern is will I be responsible for those bills once I’m able to gain access to her savings? I currently cannot travel to California and I’m wondering would I be able to access her bank account locally here in South Carolina as far as transferring her funds to my account since we both belong to the same Bank, which is Bank of America.

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POA will not be useful, it ends upon death. Did she leave a will?
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You are not responsible for any medical bills your mother incurred.
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The executor of her will is now in charge, if she created a will. Others familiar with CA will hopefully answer what you can expect. Her estate may be in probate. You are not responsible for any of her debt that you have not co-signed (like, credit cards, mortgage, car loan, leases, etc). I'm sorry for your loss and wish you peace in your heart.
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Any debts she had in life should be paid off from her assets before any of those assets are distributed to her beneficiaries.

That said - do NOT agree to pay any bills! Once you say you will pay, they will name you as the responsible party! If you get any calls from the hospital, doctor's offices, collections, etc, simply tell them the estate hasn't been settled yet. Don't give them any sort of idea as to how much is in the accounts, time frames, etc. Just repeat "the estate hasn't been settled yet". IF they can rope you into agreeing to pay, they will then put YOU on the hook for the bills, not your mom's estate.

They know how long it can take to settle an estate, and with no will, etc. it will take even longer, and they are well aware of that fact. They want their money right now, and they will try to get you to agree to pay- then they don't have to wait for the estate to be settled. Once the estate is settled, and you have access to her money, THEN you pay off any debt; if the debt exceeds her assets, then they are going to be out of luck getting reimbursed for the entire amount owed. UNLESS you agree to pay. If you were to choose not to use her assets to pay for her debt, then collections CAN come after you; but you are not responsible to use YOUR money to pay her debt.

If you hire an attorney to help you, you could refer all the collections phone calls to him/her.
Good luck.
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If Mom died without a will you need to contact Probate in her County and ask how you can go about getting a "short certificate" to handle her finances so you can pay bills. Do not co-mingle your money. Moms will need to be set up as an estate account. Then you will have proof how the money is spent. I personally would pay off small bills. When you have used up her money, contact the rest and tell them she is deceased and left no money. Keep her last statement from her bank to prove what she had in the bank upon her death.
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