I'm a long-distance caregiver for an elderly relative -- a distant cousin -- who has dementia. A few years before she started having problems, we added my name to her bank accounts so that if she were ever unable to handle her finances, I could take over seamlessly, and that's exactly what happened. Her bills are still in her name, but for the past year I've been signing the checks to pay them. There must've been bills she didn't pay before I took over, though, because in her mail I recently found a notice from a collections agency for a service she hasn't had for several years. I want to pay it, or at least call about it, but I'm worried about doing this because, as noted, my name is on her account and I don't want a collections agency deciding that, because my name is associated with hers on her checking account, I'm responsible for her debts and beginning to harass me. The bill I'm talking about isn't very big and paying it isn't a big deal, but there may be larger unpaid bills I don't know about, and I don't want anyone going after my personal funds. (I don't think they'd win if they tried, but it would certainly be a hassle.) Is this going to be a problem because my name is on her account? There has been zero co-mingling of funds -- the money in the account is 100 percent hers, and I use it only to pay her bills. I don't use any of my own funds to pay her bills, and I keep extremely good records of her expenses. If anyone has experience with this I'd appreciate hearing about it!
For example, are there services you might normally have expected an average person to use that haven't so far cropped up?
Unless there are areas you haven't yet had a chance to look into, or there are gaps you've been wondering about, or you're not certain that the claim is valid, anything like that, I should just pay the bill as demanded. They're not going to get your personal details from your signature alone, made on behalf of the account holder.
In trying to do the right thing, I called my dad's creditors to let them know he was on hospice and once his creditors had my phone number they called me relentlessly. Someone suggested to me that I tell them they are NOT to call me as I have nothing to do with his accounts as my name was not on any of them. They were vultures circling, waiting for my dad to die, hoping there was an "estate" (my dad was on Medicaid in a nursing home). So I told each one when they called next to stop calling me, stop calling my phone number. The calls finally stopped.
When my dad died I was buried in written communication demanding payment for this bill or that bill and the communications were always addressed to "The Estate of...." I don't even know how they found out my dad died. I sent a letter to each stating that there was no estate, that my dad died penniless, on Medicare, in a nursing home. Eventually the communication from the creditors stopped too.
Just don't call them. That was my mistake. Once they had my phone number I had to get really mean with them and it was very unpleasant.