You will need to watch for any amounts written off by the credit card company and reported on a 1099-C cancellation of debt to the IRS. This "phantom income" can mess up Medicaid and make the IRS think that you owe taxes. Just keep a list of credit card bills that you are not paying, amounts, and watch for any notices. There are forms to fill out and send to IRS that tells them that this is NOT taxable income and that your parent does not owe taxes. This extra step of reporting cancelled debt to IRS was put in place to keep companies from declaring fake debts written off to take excess deductions for bills that were never owed, but it causes regular people headaches.
I agree with geevesnc 100%. The minute my dad went into a nursing home I stopped paying his credit card bills with either mine or my dad's money. What did his credit matter anymore? The mistake I made was calling his creditors to tell them my dad's situation and that he couldn't pay them anymore. This was a mistake because after my calls to them they had MY phone number and called me incessantly. I had to tell each of them, again, my dad's situation and that I would be in touch once he passed away but to never call me again since I had nothing to do with his credit cards.
Every once in a while, 4 years later, I get a call or a bill from one of my dad's creditors. I pay no attention to either.
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Every once in a while, 4 years later, I get a call or a bill from one of my dad's creditors. I pay no attention to either.
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