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My 94-yar old father had been in and out of the hospital a few times since June. Upon the advice of his doctor, I was told to place him in Hospice which I did, in my home. Unfortunately, he passed away this past Monday. I am getting a lot of bills for the hospital for the weeks prior to his passing. I know I am not responsible for his bills and cannot pay them. How do you handle them. I don't want to just ignore them. Should I contact the biller and just let them know that he has passed? I had been taking care of him for the past 14 years in my home.


My father had no money, save his checking account where his social security was deposited. No other assets at all. The money he did have in his account was used for his medications, personal needs, and for his cremation services. Never owned property or cars or anything.


Can the biller come after me for his bills? I am on SS myself and cannot afford to pay his old bills. Thank you for your help.

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No. The companies and entities he owed money to cannot come after you to make payment.
Any bills that come in the mail with his name on them, write DECEASED on the envelope and Return To Sender, then put them back in the mail.
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So sorry for your loss. May the memory of your dad be a blessing to you.

Do not open these bills. Write "Deceased - Return to Sender" on the envelope. You are not his spouse and the hospital cannot come after you to pay his bills.
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LonelyDad: I am so sorry for the loss of your father and send condolences to you. You are not responsible for your father's bills since he has no estate. One way to handle this mail OF HIS is to write "deceased - return to sender" on the unopened envelope and put it back in your mailbox as outgoing mail.
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A couple of years ago, my mom had what was probably a mild stroke and was taken to the emergency room. She left the hospital against the advice of the doctor, so we never got a diagnosis.
After that, she began recycling all mail that she didn't understand. That included the hospital bill. I figured it out a few months later when I spotted a notice that her apartment insurance had been terminated due to non-payment. Along with changing her contact address for every financial institution, utility, and every other service to my own address, I contacted the hospital to give them her new billing address.
I never did see that bill from the hospital, so I guess they do give up eventually.
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When I contacted the hospital after my stepdad’s death, they cleared his bill to zero. Some places will require you to send a death certificate. In my opinion, that is reasonable for them to require that. Deal with bills when you have strength. Blessings to you for taking care of your father for 14 years. I’m sure you have lonely times ahead as you adjust to your loss.
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From my experience, just throw them in the garbage. They stop sending them after a while.
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Are they sending these bills to you, or to your father but at your address?

Any that name your father, I should write "deceased - return to sender" on the unopened envelope and pop it back in the mail.
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LonelyDad, I am sorry for your loss. How are you doing?

You know you don't have to pay. so don't worry about the bills. You have several ways to deal with them. If you're grieving and don't feel like doing anything, then you can ignore them, and throw them out. Or if you want to notify the creditors properly, follow igloo's advice. And if any creditors try to be an @ss, give them your dad's forwarding address to the cemetery where he was buried, or where his ashes are kept, be sure to include cemetery name and plot #.
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my2cents Jun 2021
I used the address of the cemetery when my dad continued to get jury duty summons YEARS-EONS after he passed. I even pointed it out on the voter registration when I voted. Still the summons continued. It was at least 20 years, probably more, before it finally stopped. Always chuckled hoping they would send a deputy to the cemetery to arrest him for no-show on the jury summons!!
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You are not responsible for your father's bills unless you co-signed anything for payment. If you are the executor of his estate, you need to pay his bills from whatever his remaining assets are. It would be helpful to send letters to all his creditors that he has passed and there is no money to reimburse them. Create files for each creditor. Place copy of letter you sent them along with their notices. After a year, they should cease.
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I'm sorry for your loss. If he was on Medicare the hospital should submit bills to them. They may come after him for expenses Medicare did not pay but if he had extra insurance, that should cover anything left over.

The collectors do have a chance to submit a claim against the Estate. Check the laws in your state about this.

You're not responsible for his bills, like the other responders have mentioned.
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Call or email them and tell them he's deceased - stop sending bills. Tell them to bill his Medicare (and or any insurance he has) and that's the best info you can offer them Don't spend money buying a lot of death certificates from the funeral home to mail out - too much money to spend. If anything refer them to the obituary at the funeral home if they need to verify death. Bill collectors don't need a copy of a death certificate.

Make a list of each company you call and the date you called them so you have a record. Any more bills arrive after telling them???? Trash can.
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MJ1929 Jul 2021
Ditto on the death certificates. I was talked into buying a dozen for my dad by the funeral home, and I've used exactly one that I didn't get back. Everyone else just makes a copy and hands back the original.

I say don't order more than two or three copies.
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When my mother passed, there was also no estate. When we received a bill, we responded with a letter to what Igloo included with her answer, and included a copy of her death certificate. The executor of the estate signed the letter. We never heard from anyone after that.

I am so very sorry for the loss of your father. Praying for peace and comfort for you.
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His bills are HIS bills. I wouldn't even open them. Contacting the billing departments implies you have some sense of responsibility, so I advise that you don't do it.

They'll be trying to ding the credit of a dead man, so let them go for it. If collection agencies call, you tell them no such person lives there and do not call again -- end of discussion. If they continue to call, keep track of those calls (date, time, name of caller/company, what they say), but do not engage with them at all. These are the bills of someone who is not you, so there's no reason for you to discuss any of it.

Under NO circumstances do you pay one dime to anyone. If Dad has any money left at all, keep it in the account untouched for a while in case someone tries to garnish it. They might be able to do that -- I'm not a lawyer, so I can't tell you if that's the case, but it sounds like the amount in his account is insignificant.
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I'm very sorry for your loss, and that you're going through this now.
I'm going to assume you never signed anything that said you were a party responsible for payment.
In addition to the advice you've already received - if/when you get phone calls from the collections people DO NOT in any way, shape or form agree to or even intimate agreement to take on responsibility for these bills! For example, if they ask for dad, and after you've explained that he's deceased with no estate, if they ask "then who is responsible to pay these bills?" just repeat "he's dead, and there is no estate". Don't even offer to "check" to see if there's any way the bills could be paid. Once they get some sort of acquiescence for payment, they can run with it and hold you responsible. They will threaten, cajole, urge, etc. someone - anyone - to agree to pay. If they continue to harangue you, hang up/don't answer.
Good luck.
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Sorry about your dad.

No, you aren't responsible for his bills. It would probably be best to contact the biller, in writing, stating that your father is deceased and has no assets. Return receipt would cost a little more, but at least you'd have documentation that they received the notice.

If you don't notify the billers, at some point they will send it off to collections, who can possibly start harassing you. They CAN'T make you pay, but you don't need or want the harassment!

Per SS, only certain situations allow for "garnishment" and this is NOT one of them (your dad's medical debts.)

https://www.ssa.gov/OP_Home/handbook/handbook.01/handbook-0129.html

129.2 Can Your Social Security Benefits Be Levied Or Garnished?
Listed are:
* unpaid Federal taxes
* unpaid child support and or alimony
* Court Ordered Victims Restitution (this is NOT a victim restitution!)
* delinquent debts owed to other Federal agencies, such as student loans owed to the Department of Education.

Basically, SSI payments cannot be levied or garnished.

Keep copies of the bills, but send a copy with the letter stating your dad is deceased and has no assets. Keep copies of the letters and the return receipts. It might speed up the process if you call each biller while preparing the letters, so they can be prepared to write off the debts.

Typically they can attempt, through the courts, to capture any monies owed through probate, but since he has/had no assets, there won't be any monies for them to claim as there won't be any probate.

IF these billers are jerks, they might send debt off to collectors. Don't take their crap, they aren't allowed to harass people - see this:

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/debts-and-deceased-relatives

If they DO harass you, see this:

https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/debt-collection-faqs
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Great add-on advice, JoAnn. I've dealt with situations where I had to mail something and the person on the other end keeps telling me they're not 'seeing' the letter. If someone in the office has to SIGN for it, you can say "well, you may not see the letter but so-and-so down in the mail room SIGNED for the letter so it's somewhere in your purview". Amazing how quickly the letter/document is found.
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Just adding to Igloos response. Now certified mail allows you to track your letter and get a date and time delivered online you can print off. About $3.00 cheaper than sending certified/registered getting the green card back. That would be OK if sending to a specific person but your letter will likely just go to a receptionist who will send it onto an office of people.

As said, collection agencies are a pain but laws are more strict with them than they are with collectors within the company calling you. The FTC oversees collection agencies. If they say they will sue, they must follow thru. If you ask them not to call you again, they can't. If you give a date that you will have the problem rectified, they cannot call you again until that date.

All you need to do is find out what they need too wipe off the debt. Send it to them certified with a cover letter. Once that is done, so is your responsibility. If they call, tell them info was sent certified, you have the date and the time and a signature if u go with the green card. The info is there, probably sitting on someones desk. Please don't call again. I one time did not send info certified. I kept getting calls it was not received. I told them it didn't come back to me either. I told them it was probably on someones's desk. The last time I got a call, I told the lady the same story and she said "must be on someones desk or forgot to enter it and filed it". No more calls.
It was an original death certificate to my Dads former employer. They had already closed down her benefits and pension it was just back up. Told them I was not sending another copy. They acted like they were the government.
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igloo572 Jun 2021
The advantage to the green card is that they are supposed to date and sign it. Usually it’s a stamped signature & written in date. But the smaller firms or smaller businesses have an actual person do their signature and the date. It’s considered legal and should you be served or they file a lawsuit, that signature establishes a person at the firm actually got it, who it was and when they were noticed and within the 30 days needed to challenge any letter. Really for $8.00 it’s well worth it is my take.
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I’d suggest that you do 3 things:
1. a form “to whom it may concern” letter stating your dads name and his old address and his DOD (date of death) and that at the time of death he had no assets therefore no after death Estate. His debts are / were his alone & he died a widower. Probate will not be opened and this letter is notification that there are no assets / no funds to pay any of his debts.
The letter is short & sweet, basically a notification. You do not have to sign you name onto the letter, unless you choose to.
2. You mail the letter to each debtor letter that comes your way. Each letter sent certified mail with the return registered card (the green postcard that gets affixed to the mailed envelope) from USPO. It costs abt $8.00 for the duet. It legally establishes that they are notified and the green card will be signed off by whomever receives your letter, and the green card is returned to you. On the return registered card, you do put in your name and your address…. This way it comes back to you.
3. You get a binder going in which attached to every letter you get, you staple the certified mail receipt and then the green card.

Should any of the debtors try to pressure you to pay or imply that his debts are yours, or any other drama, you have legal dated & signed verification that he died w/out an estate & his debts were his alone. Should they sell his debt to secondary debt collection- which they likely will - you make a copy of that letter & write across it “not a valid debt” and send it plus a copy of the original form letter & the certified mail and the return registered card. (The certified mail & RRC will have the creditors name & address so you have a definite match up). This too you do the certified mail & return registered card duet. Rinse & repeat.

really truly you want to do this. The secondary debt collection outfits are notoriously bad; they will send letters addressed to you personally not dad but you personally, and if you do not do something definite within 30 days to let them know it’s not your debt, they can - if they are motivated to do this - they can take you to court to get a judgement against you for his debt.

Carefulky read the bills, most will have a time frame in which to respond to the validity of the bill. You need to get your USPO duet postmarked within that period. Once you do the first few, it’ll be easy peasy to keep it up. Good luck and get organized!
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Tothill Jun 2021
Fantastic detail advice.
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No, you are not responsible for your Father's bills. Write on the bill "Deceased; NO ESTATE". As long as there is no estate probated the entities cannot try to collect. You do not pay the bills of your father.
Let us assume your father were still alive and had no money at all. They could still do nothing but bill him, and finally go to court and get a judgement against him. We don't have debtors prisons. His credit would be ruined. The collectors would eventally sell the debt to collectors for pennies on the dollar.
Wishing the best and so sorry for your loss.
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I am so sorry about your Dad.

No, your are not responsible for your Dads bills. So do not let them intimidate you.

At 94 your Dad did have Medicare, did he have supplimental/ secondary insurance?

Get the bills together and sort them by doctor and hospital. Then call their billing departments. Tell them Dad had no assets. There is no money. They probably will need a copy of the death certificate. Not sure how you will prove he has no funds. Maybe a letter from a Bank officer? I would not send them anything with his acct# on it. I was able to pay off Moms balances before she went on Medicaid so I didn't have to call creditors.

There will be someone who has dealt with this.
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