JoAnn, you do not get all of the greatest amount. The spouse can get half, but it is either or, you don't get yours and half of his. If someone advised you that is what will happen, they lied. You should check it out or you could be in for a sad surprise.
I just did continuing ed class on this and it does confuse most people, then they fail to plan, then they are in dire straits.
JoAnn's post read: "Upon his (husband) death, I will end up receiving pretty much his 1500 so my 750 will drop off." That is correct. The living spouse will draw the largest sum.
My mother was able to go from $600 SS to $2400 when her ex-husband died. She had been married to him for 10 years 50 years earlier. He also had three other wives that received those full SS benefits.
When married, SS is based on who has accrued the most. Usually its the man but could be the woman. In my instance it was the man. My husbands is 1500, mine is 750 so I already made half of his. If his had been 2000 then SS would bring me up to 1000. Upon his death, I will end up receiving pretty much his 1500 so my 750 will drop off. There's alot that goes into this calculation but thats the short version. So if Dad was bringing in 700 in SS, Mom is getting pretty much what she should. If he was receiving more than I would check it out again.
What you may want to do is call your local O of A. Ask if they have or know of a free service that can help you with the CC debt. My suggestion is to work with the credit card company to lower her debt. Combine all of them into one loan to pay them off. This will give her one payment. Or u may have to claim bankruptcy. There is something about forgivness on a CC debt that she maybe taxed for. Has something to do with it now being considered income.
It is very hard getting out of CC debt. Minimum payment does not even touch the interest. If you pay late... it adds up. The more you can pay the better off you are. And, she also needs to stop using them. Freeze them. You won't be able to close the acct until there is no balance.
Thank you all for the advice. We have taken care of SS, they only gave her $275 of his which is not half? There are no assets she has absolutely nothing. She is living in a condo owned by my sister and seriously after her groceries, necessities, and medical she has nothing left. The debt is about $15,000 so we have considered bankruptcy, but there again there is no money to pay for it. She has a huge fear someone will come to her home and arrest her for the debt, we have tried unsuccessfully to convince her this will not happen.
There are several factors to how SS is determined, if your mom took hers as soon as she was eligible, then she is only entitled to the half at the age she took it.
Find a financial advisor that understands SS, they are almost always willing to do a free consultation to help you understand.
I would just to make sure she is getting the proper amount.
Also, she doesn't get both, hers and his, she gets the greater of the 2. So does the added amount bring hers to half?
Can you have someone write a letter telling mom that the debt is forgiven and then intercept mail, change phone number so they can not harrass her? The last thing she needs is the worry of "debtors prison"
I have never given my account information or permission to anyone to have access to my accounts, I am shocked that a bank would allow another financial institution to break the law and be a party to it. Thank you for opening my eyes.
I guess I worried about their integrity and that was why I said no auto withdrawals. But you obviously know what you are talking about.
This is why I never do auto payments, once a company has permission to withdrawal money out than they can keep doing it even if, you tell the company to stop. The bank or credit union says ,there is nothing that they can do but for you to close the acct & start a new one. I knew someone who went through this.
First thing you should do is what Isthisrealyreal says about your mom calling SS to collect half of dad's SS. I could advise you better if I knew more information, however, credit card companies Can Not collect from SS. They can take money out of accts if they have acct information, however, they need permission or a judgement to do it, but they are known to do it anyways without permission or judgement. (which is illegal) Credit card companies can go after any assets your mom has, but first they have to make so many contacts with your mom this means phone calls and letters. Than they can file for a judgement against your mom.
Here are your mom's rights: Credit card companies or collectors can only call between the hrs of 8am to 8pm, and they can only call once a day anything more than that is harassment. They can not use any threat or force. This means they can not say for example, if you don't pay us we will take your house. They can not call you names. If you find them doing these things record it on your phone or write date, time, name, and what was said. Do not be afraid to tell them you are talking to a lawyer if they are threating you.
Credit card companies & collectors look at collecting like a game they are playing! Who can get the most uncollected money. The more the employees collected on accts the more money they get. So let's say, you owe 1000 (on acct you haven't paid in 6 months) and employee A gets your acct & you pay 50, A gets a % and moves on to anothet acct. Mean while employee B gets a 2500 acct and gets 30 than employee B gets %. By the end of the day, the employees are boasting about how many acct they collected on because the more accts they collect the more money they make. They get a % of each acct plus a bonus for who collected on the most accts. This is to give you a heads up.
The rule I was told to file bankruptcy or not, is anything over 10,000 is to file bankruptcy. Anything under 10,000 try to work it out the the CC companies. Of course, this rule depends on your mom's income, assets, & how much is owned. If there is not a huge amount and not a lot of CCs I would start calling them myself. This is where the negotiations start. Start with trying to get interest, late fees to stop. They will play hard ball so you will have to play hard ball back. DON'T BACKDOWN from them. Don't start off hard put stay firm. Offer to pay amount that your mom can afford, if they push back than ask for a manage or ask them if they are in a position to make decisions, if not, as for a manger. And tell that manager "how she can only pay xx amount every month and that's it. If you get more push back tell them "find my mom will have to file bankruptcy, I am just trying to do the right thing. "Can't. you work with her?
*And whatever you do don't say you will help your mom pay them. That can lock you into paying them. Just don't do it! If by some chance your mom has no assests, house, CD's, MM accts and don't need credit for anything and is up their in years you have a choice to do nothing! (Can't get blood out of a turnip!) Just putting that out there.
I hope I didn't overload you with information, and whatever you do Do Not get emotional, just be a matter of fact, professional. Stay calm.
Can you check with social security to see if mom qualifies to collect half of dads ss. This is a one time change that is allowed, so if half of his is more than hers, it could help improve her life.
I would contact the cc company and talk to a supervisor that can help stop the interest and penalties. Then if mom can make small 10 or 15 dollar pmts. I would be very clear that you are trying to avoid bankruptcy so they do get paid. DO NOT give them your information, they will harrass you.
If they won't help, talk to a credit counselor, non-profit, to see if they can help get the interest stopped.
For anyone to take the money from her account they would need a judgment against her and I believe that they CAN NOT take or lien social security.
If the credit card debt is joint, yes it is likely that now it’s your mother’s issue. If she really has nothing and the debts are substantial, bankruptcy is probably the way to go. She would keep most of her personal effects, bankruptcy isn’t destitution. However another option is that some creditors will agree to a compromise if they are told (firmly) that she will take bankruptcy if they don’t. For example, they might write off half the debt, and agree that she will pay the remainder in small installments. It may be a bad idea to go to a ‘financial advisor’ or ‘debt consolidator’. They are usually paid by the creditors, so for example they don’t recommend bankruptcy even if it is the most sensible option. If you can find a non-profit financial advice service run by a welfare agency, they might help to negotiate a settlement. ‘Inherited debt’ is a big problem for women, though usually it’s divorce related. If bankruptcy is the sensible answer, try not to let her turn it down out of ‘shame’. It isn’t her shame, and the chances are that no-one she knows will hear anything about it.
Sallys2nd I tell people not to use joint accounts. No matter what your connection is. If funds go into a joint account the debters can use that account to pay debt. Remove funds from the account. Do not deposit into it.
I just did continuing ed class on this and it does confuse most people, then they fail to plan, then they are in dire straits.
Please get the correct information.
My mother was able to go from $600 SS to $2400 when her ex-husband died. She had been married to him for 10 years 50 years earlier. He also had three other wives that received those full SS benefits.
What you may want to do is call your local O of A. Ask if they have or know of a free service that can help you with the CC debt. My suggestion is to work with the credit card company to lower her debt. Combine all of them into one loan to pay them off. This will give her one payment. Or u may have to claim bankruptcy. There is something about forgivness on a CC debt that she maybe taxed for. Has something to do with it now being considered income.
It is very hard getting out of CC debt. Minimum payment does not even touch the interest. If you pay late... it adds up. The more you can pay the better off you are. And, she also needs to stop using them. Freeze them. You won't be able to close the acct until there is no balance.
We have taken care of SS, they only gave her $275 of his which is not half?
There are no assets she has absolutely nothing. She is living in a condo owned by my sister and seriously after her groceries, necessities, and medical she has nothing left. The debt is about $15,000 so we have considered bankruptcy, but there again there is no money to pay for it.
She has a huge fear someone will come to her home and arrest her for the debt, we have tried unsuccessfully to convince her this will not happen.
Find a financial advisor that understands SS, they are almost always willing to do a free consultation to help you understand.
I would just to make sure she is getting the proper amount.
Also, she doesn't get both, hers and his, she gets the greater of the 2. So does the added amount bring hers to half?
Can you have someone write a letter telling mom that the debt is forgiven and then intercept mail, change phone number so they can not harrass her?
The last thing she needs is the worry of "debtors prison"
I have never given my account information or permission to anyone to have access to my accounts, I am shocked that a bank would allow another financial institution to break the law and be a party to it. Thank you for opening my eyes.
I guess I worried about their integrity and that was why I said no auto withdrawals. But you obviously know what you are talking about.
I knew someone who went through this.
I could advise you better if I knew more information, however, credit card companies Can Not collect from SS. They can take money out of accts if they have acct information, however, they need permission or a judgement to do it, but they are known to do it anyways without permission or judgement. (which is illegal)
Credit card companies can go after any assets your mom has, but first they have to make so many contacts with your mom this means phone calls and letters.
Than they can file for a judgement against your mom.
Here are your mom's rights:
Credit card companies or collectors can only call between the hrs of 8am to 8pm, and they can only call once a day anything more than that is harassment.
They can not use any threat or force. This means they can not say for example, if you don't pay us we will take your house. They can not call you names.
If you find them doing these things record it on your phone or write date, time, name, and what was said. Do not be afraid to tell them you are talking to a lawyer if they are threating you.
Credit card companies & collectors look at collecting like a game they are playing! Who can get the most uncollected money. The more the employees collected on accts the more money they get. So let's say, you owe 1000 (on acct you haven't paid in 6 months) and employee A gets your acct & you pay 50, A gets a % and moves on to anothet acct. Mean while employee B gets a 2500 acct and gets 30 than employee B gets %. By the end of the day, the employees are boasting about how many acct they collected on because the more accts they collect the more money they make. They get a % of each acct plus a bonus for who collected on the most accts. This is to give you a heads up.
The rule I was told to file bankruptcy or not, is anything over 10,000 is to file bankruptcy. Anything under 10,000 try to work it out the the CC companies. Of course, this rule depends on your mom's income, assets, & how much is owned. If there is not a huge amount and not a lot of CCs I would start calling them myself. This is where the negotiations start. Start with trying to get interest, late fees to stop. They will play hard ball so you will have to play hard ball back. DON'T BACKDOWN from them. Don't start off hard put stay firm. Offer to pay amount that your mom can afford, if they push back than ask for a manage or ask them if they are in a position to make decisions, if not, as for a manger. And tell that manager "how she can only pay xx amount every month and that's it. If you get more push back tell them "find my mom will have to file bankruptcy, I am just trying to do the right thing. "Can't. you work with her?
*And whatever you do don't say you will help your mom pay them. That can lock you into paying them. Just don't do it!
If by some chance your mom has no assests, house, CD's, MM accts and don't need credit for anything and is up their in years you have a choice to do nothing! (Can't get blood out of a turnip!) Just putting that out there.
I hope I didn't overload you with information, and whatever you do Do Not get emotional, just be a matter of fact, professional. Stay calm.
I hope this helped. Good Luck!
FULL of woderful,factual information which everyone, esp. Women. can use. Thank you!
I would contact the cc company and talk to a supervisor that can help stop the interest and penalties. Then if mom can make small 10 or 15 dollar pmts. I would be very clear that you are trying to avoid bankruptcy so they do get paid. DO NOT give them your information, they will harrass you.
If they won't help, talk to a credit counselor, non-profit, to see if they can help get the interest stopped.
For anyone to take the money from her account they would need a judgment against her and I believe that they CAN NOT take or lien social security.
Best of luck getting this straightened out.