My father passed away early this month. Since then I have been receiving bills for him.

All the money he had in his savings account was used for his funeral,he had no stocks,bonds or anything of that nature.

I am trying to find out if I am obligated to pay these bills or not.

If anyone knows,or can offer any information on this,I would be really grateful.

I'm so sorry about your loss.

Does he have a will? That would have instructions

I am sorry for your loss.

Where do you live?

I'm so sorry for your loss.

In answer to your question, no you are not required to pay off your parents debts as long as the bills are completely in your parents names and you are not listed as a co-signer or anything of that nature.

I doubt it... sorry for your loss.

A little more information, this is for Florida, but I believe it is true for all states:

So is a child responsible for his deceased parent's unpaid bills? Unless you have signed as a guarantor, the answer is generally no. It is the decedent's estate that is responsible for paying debts. If you are contacted by a creditor or collection agency regarding your late parent's debts, refer them to the personal representative or trustee for the estate, whose job it is to pay valid debts from the funds of the estate. If there are insufficient funds to pay debts, it generally goes unpaid. The children are not on the hook.

I warn the children of my deceased clients to not give callers of this nature any personal information. Many scam artists check the death notices and then contact the decedent's children, hoping to gain access to personal information which is then used fraudulently.

If you continue to be bothered by your late parent's creditors, write a letter to them requesting that they refrain from contacting you in the future. If you continue to have problems, contact your state's attorney general. To access the online complaint form of the Florida Attorney General's Office, click here.

[Edited 6/29/12 16:25pm]

I seriously hope not because I'd be fucked. I still get calls from bill collectors for my dad writing bad checks.

Thank you for all the help. He did'nt have a will,but always told my sisters,and I that when he passed, all of his personal belongings were ours to decide what to do with. He made sure that our name was on his storage unit,and that I was named as beneficiary on his bank account.

LadyCasanova I live in California

No, unless you assume it.

No, but that still won't stop debt collectors from trying but they won't get very far

I wouldn't think so, but I guess I'm lucky that my mom's assets far outweight her debts.

I doubt those kinds of things will be on my mind when she passes though.

nursev said:

No, but that still won't stop debt collectors from trying but they won't get very far

thank you Nurse

[Edited 6/29/12 22:41pm]

EmeraldSkies said:

nursev said:

No, but that still won't stop debt collectors from trying but they won't get very far

I don't think I would have to worry about debt collectors calling. He did'nt have any credit cards,so the bills I have been receiving are his last cable,electric,city bills,and some from the doctors he was seeing.

Do thoughs get turned over to collections? I don't think so,but I have never had to deal with this before so I am not sure.

Yeah they do-happened when my granny and father passed away, but once they are told that the person is deceased there is nothing they can do. No worries

Timmy84 said:

I doubt it... sorry for your loss.

Thank you Timmy

EmeraldSkies said:

Timmy84 said:

I doubt it... sorry for your loss.

Thank you Timmy

No prob.

EmeraldSkies said:

My father passed away early this month. Since then I have been receiving bills for him.

All the money he had in his savings account was used for his funeral,he had no stocks,bonds or anything of that nature.

I am trying to find out if I am obligated to pay these bills or not.

If anyone knows,or can offer any information on this,I would be really grateful.

I'm sorry for your loss, but to answer your question, no his debt should NOT become your debt. Do you have his death certificate or access to it? If so, you need to make copies of it and send them to his creditors. This should take care of that issue. If they still proceed to try and collect by contacting you, then you need to seek legal advice and get a lawyer or some kind of legal representative to contact the creditors and put them in their place.

When my father passed, he left things pretty much in order. All he had were a couple of credit cards with balances on them, my mom sent them copies of his death certificate. One of the credit card companies complied and left her alone, the other one kept saying that she needed to pay...so my mom had prepaid legal give them a call and that was the end of that matter.

[Edited 6/30/12 4:58am]

We had been fighting with the hospital when my mother was dying because they kept trying to put her out because she had no insurance. Being pissed at the hospital, it gave me great pleasure when they kept sending a bill every month for months after she died. They were hoping one of us would be fool enough to attempt to pay it. Finally, one day I got the bill and wrote on the envelope......"Return to sender. Wrong Address. Forward all future mail to Lakewood Memorial Cemetary."......Let's see the bastards try to get money out of that address.

vainandy said:

We had been fighting with the hospital when my mother was dying because they kept trying to put her out because she had no insurance. Being pissed at the hospital, it gave me great pleasure when they kept sending a bill every month for months after she died. They were hoping one of us would be fool enough to attempt to pay it. Finally, one day I got the bill and wrote on the envelope......"Return to sender. Wrong Address. Forward all future mail to Lakewood Memorial Cemetary."......Let's see the bastards try to get money out of that address.

When my grandmother passed away,my Mom kept getting calls for her from creditors. When they would ask how they could get ahold of her,my Mom would give them the cemetary's phone number.

missfee said:

EmeraldSkies said:

My father passed away early this month. Since then I have been receiving bills for him.

All the money he had in his savings account was used for his funeral,he had no stocks,bonds or anything of that nature.

I am trying to find out if I am obligated to pay these bills or not.

If anyone knows,or can offer any information on this,I would be really grateful.

I'm sorry for your loss, but to answer your question, no his debt should NOT become your debt. Do you have his death certificate or access to it? If so, you need to make copies of it and send them to his creditors. This should take care of that issue. If they still proceed to try and collect by contacting you, then you need to seek legal advice and get a lawyer or some kind of legal representative to contact the creditors and put them in their place.

When my father passed, he left things pretty much in order. All he had were a couple of credit cards with balances on them, my mom sent them copies of his death certificate. One of the credit card companies complied and left her alone, the other one kept saying that she needed to pay...so my mom had prepaid legal give them a call and that was the end of that matter.

[Edited 6/30/12 4:58am]

I have his death certificate. Can I just get copies made myself or do I have to get copies made from the mortuary?

imago said:

I wouldn't think so, but I guess I'm lucky that my mom's assets far outweight her debts.

I doubt those kinds of things will be on my mind when she passes though.

It was definately the last thing on mine.

EmeraldSkies said:

missfee said:

I'm sorry for your loss, but to answer your question, no his debt should NOT become your debt. Do you have his death certificate or access to it? If so, you need to make copies of it and send them to his creditors. This should take care of that issue. If they still proceed to try and collect by contacting you, then you need to seek legal advice and get a lawyer or some kind of legal representative to contact the creditors and put them in their place.

When my father passed, he left things pretty much in order. All he had were a couple of credit cards with balances on them, my mom sent them copies of his death certificate. One of the credit card companies complied and left her alone, the other one kept saying that she needed to pay...so my mom had prepaid legal give them a call and that was the end of that matter.

[Edited 6/30/12 4:58am]

I have his death certificate. Can I just get copies made myself or do I have to get copies made from the mortuary?

Some places require an "original", some are OK with a copy. You'll have to contact them to be sure.

Sorry for your loss.

EmeraldSkies said:

missfee said:

I'm sorry for your loss, but to answer your question, no his debt should NOT become your debt. Do you have his death certificate or access to it? If so, you need to make copies of it and send them to his creditors. This should take care of that issue. If they still proceed to try and collect by contacting you, then you need to seek legal advice and get a lawyer or some kind of legal representative to contact the creditors and put them in their place.

When my father passed, he left things pretty much in order. All he had were a couple of credit cards with balances on them, my mom sent them copies of his death certificate. One of the credit card companies complied and left her alone, the other one kept saying that she needed to pay...so my mom had prepaid legal give them a call and that was the end of that matter.

[Edited 6/30/12 4:58am]

I have his death certificate. Can I just get copies made myself or do I have to get copies made from the mortuary?

I'd get the copies made from the mortuary.

missfee said:

EmeraldSkies said:

I have his death certificate. Can I just get copies made myself or do I have to get copies made from the mortuary?

I'd get the copies made from the mortuary.

Those cost money ($18 a piece for the ones we had to get a couple months ago) and can add up pretty quick. Some places are fine with a photocopy (which is like, eighteen cents ).

Cerebus said:

missfee said:

I'd get the copies made from the mortuary.

Those cost money ($18 a piece for the ones we had to get a couple months ago) and can add up pretty quick. Some places are fine with a photocopy (which is like, eighteen cents ).

True, but for me, I'd go for quality than for the cheap copy.

missfee said:

Cerebus said:

Those cost money ($18 a piece for the ones we had to get a couple months ago) and can add up pretty quick. Some places are fine with a photocopy (which is like, eighteen cents ).

True, but for me, I'd go for quality than for the cheap copy.

I don't understand. Why would you pay for something that doesn't require it? I've just gone through this and the places that allowed photocopies saved us a couple hundred dollars.

Cerebus said:

missfee said:

I'd get the copies made from the mortuary.

Those cost money ($18 a piece for the ones we had to get a couple months ago) and can add up pretty quick. Some places are fine with a photocopy (which is like, eighteen cents ).

For creditors and most legal matters a photocopy is sufficient. When our clients pass, we only request a copy which can be faxed as long as it is legible to us.

Cerebus said:

missfee said:

True, but for me, I'd go for quality than for the cheap copy.

I don't understand. Why would you pay for something that doesn't require it? I've just gone through this and the places that allowed photocopies saved us a couple hundred dollars.

Look, I've answered the OP's question and not interested in going back and forth with you. That is all.

[Edited 7/1/12 16:54pm]

I really appreciate all the help from everyone.