When Mom died she had some outstanding credit card and medical bills. She has no money to pay and her spouse, my Dad, died a year ago today (I lost my parents within 10 months of each other...). There is no probate due to Mom not having any assets upon death aside from a few pieces of furniture in her assisted living apartment that my brother and I donated. In the will I am named executor so I have sent the creditors a letter, a death certificate and a copy of the last bill received to inform them of the death & that there is no probate & no money to pay.
I keep receiving bills & most recently a collections notice from one of the creditors. Do I need to respond to these attempts or can I just let it go since I did notify them? I sent the letters certified so I know they were received.
Even though I have notified all creditors, do I still need to put a public notice in the local newspaper in IN, the state Mom lived in upon death? If I need to publish a notice, what type of paper should it go in and for how long?
Thank you-
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No, you don't need to do anything more. The incoming mail for your mom (bills, etc.) will peter out eventually.
When my dad died I tried to do the right thing and contacted his creditors to inform them that my dad had died. Big mistake. After that, they had my phone number and would call me, begging for money from the "estate". My dad had been on Medicaid in a nursing home and had no estate. My brother and I were counting out our change to pay for my dad's cremation. I finally told each creditor to stop calling and sent a death certificate to each one as well. They stopped calling but I received bills for a few months.
You've done the right thing. Ignore them and they'll go away eventually.
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