Collection notice from deceased relative - Ignore?

[disneysteve]

My wife's sister died earlier this year. My wife is not the executor and has no other official connection to her sister's estate (and as far as we know, she was broke anyway). This week, she received a collection notice from a law firm looking for money for a $10,000 Discover credit card balance.

I'm assuming she can just ignore that. I'd like to respond saying she isn't responsible for her late sister's debts, but I'm afraid that doing so will just encourage them. Of course, if we do nothing, the firm may keep bugging her anyway and I don't want a barrage of letters and phone calls from the collection agency.

What's the best course of action here?

 

[Montecfo]

Was there an estate?

 

[Another Reader]

My wife's sister died earlier this year. My wife is not the executor and has no other official connection to her sister's estate (and as far as we know, she was broke anyway). This week, she received a collection notice from a law firm looking for money for a $10,000 Discover credit card balance.

I'm assuming she can just ignore that. I'd like to respond saying she isn't responsible for her late sister's debts, but I'm afraid that doing so will just encourage them. Of course, if we do nothing, the firm may keep bugging her anyway and I don't want a barrage of letters and phone calls from the collection agency.

What's the best course of action here?

I would first make sure the law firm did not mix the sisters up in some way. Also that your wife's credit report does not reflect the debt. Then I would wait for further contact from the law firm before responding in any way.

 

[njhowie]

Print this out from CFPB:
https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/does-a-persons-debt-go-away-when-they-die-en-1463/


Highlight the third and fourth paragraphs:

For survivors of deceased loved ones, including spouses, you’re not responsible for their debts unless you shared legal responsibility for repaying as a co-signer, a joint account holder, or if you fall within another exception.

If you’re not responsible for a debt, debt collectors may still contact you if you’re a surviving spouse or oversee the estate, but it’s illegal for debt collectors to suggest you’re responsible for paying from your own money. It’s also always illegal for them to harass you about paying the debt.

Handwrite a short cover note saying "I am not responsible, any further contact will be interpreted as harassment and I will file a complaint with your state Attorney General".

Send it back to them with a copy of their letter by certified mail, return receipt with signature required.

 

[Montecfo]

Yet if there was an estate, claim could be valid.

 

[mwilson]

I would consider sending a short letter under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Your letter should state 1. You are disputing the validity of the debt and 2. ask them to provide a letter of verification for the debt. You have 30 days from receiving the notice to do that. They can't communicate with you until they provide the verification. If you don't send respond within 30 days the collector can assume the debt is valid. You don't need to say anything about the debt, just say that you are disputing it, period.

I have done this after receiving notices of debts I don't owe (I have a common name) and have never heard back after doing so.

 

[njhowie]

Yet if there was an estate, claim could be valid.

Regardless, even if there was an estate, she is not the executor and is not responsible, whether the claim is valid or not.

 

[Montecfo]

Regardless, even if there was an estate, she is not the executor and is not responsible, whether the claim is valid or not.

Not an attorney but I expect a valid creditor could clawback funds from estate beneficiaries.

Was creditor aware of her passing, for example?

Hence my question.

 

[njhowie]

I would consider sending a short letter under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Your letter should state 1. You are disputing the validity of the debt and 2. ask them to provide a letter of verification for the debt. You have 30 days from receiving the notice to do that. They can't communicate with you until they provide the verification. If you don't send respond within 30 days the collector can assume the debt is valid. You don't need to say anything about the debt, just say that you are disputing it, period.

I have done this after receiving notices of debts I don't owe (I have a common name) and have never heard back after doing so.

I disagree with this approach. If you're not responsible to begin with, why ask for verification or dispute the debt? It's no different than if the collection notice showed up for you for a complete stranger's debt...would you ask for verification or dispute the validity of the debt? No, you'd say "You have the wrong person, move along".

 

[njhowie]

Not an attorney but I expect a valid creditor could clawback funds from estate beneficiaries.

Was creditor aware of her passing, for example?

Hence my question.

I will repeat, with highlights:

For survivors of deceased loved ones, including spouses, you’re not responsible for their debts unless you shared legal responsibility for repaying as a co-signer, a joint account holder, or if you fall within another exception.

If you’re not responsible for a debt, debt collectors may still contact you if you’re a surviving spouse or oversee the estate, but it’s illegal for debt collectors to suggest you’re responsible for paying from your own money. It’s also always illegal for them to harass you about paying the debt.

She is not the surviving spouse and did not oversee the estate.

Clawback of estate disbursements to beneficiaries? Extremely doubtful on a first contact letter from debt collector if it doesn't explicitly state that in the letter.

I do not believe sister has any responsibility to communicate with debt collector or provide any information whatsoever.

Send the certified letter. Either it will go away, or debt collector will come back with additional information and demands.

 

[mwilson]

If you send the reply in the 30 day window, they either have to send you verification or stop contacting you.

OP spouse does not owe the debt, so the collector can't send a valid verification.

So, if they don't contact you, problem solved.

If they do contact you in a way that violates the law, they can be liable for statutory damages (no proof of harm needed) of $1,000. Which helps collector decide to leave it alone. Especially if you cite the verification portions of the law in your letter.

From the collector's point of view, it makes sense to try and get relatives to pay these sorts of debts even if they know the debt is not owed by the relative - some people must assume they are responsible and pay anyway.

 

[jazz4cash]

Not an attorney but I expect a valid creditor could clawback funds from estate beneficiaries.

Was creditor aware of her passing, for example?

Hence my question.

DW went through this. Claim was valid but it was rejected because she had no legal connection to the debt. We couldn’t figure out why they did not sue the estate. It was way more than $10k. Now if it was $10M they might work a little harder. I’d ignore it.

 

[Jerry1]

Print this out from CFPB:
https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/does-a-persons-debt-go-away-when-they-die-en-1463/


Highlight the third and fourth paragraphs:
Handwrite a short cover note saying "I am not responsible, any further contact will be interpreted as harassment and I will file a complaint with your state Attorney General".

Send it back to them with a copy of their letter by certified mail, return receipt with signature required.

I agree with this except I would word the cove note little different. I would say “I am not responsible for the debt in question and request that you cease any further communication with me on this matter.”

You could use other wording but I would not make any threat of further action on your part. Of course if they contact you, I’d be very forceful and file a complaint but no need to start off on that foot.

I would not ignore it. That might work, but it’s better to address the issue and cover your back side.

It might be a sensitive issue, but I’d ask your wife, if you haven’t already, just to make sure she never co-signed on any debt for her sister. Stranger things have happened. Hopefully not though.

 

[Montecfo]

I will repeat, with highlights:
She is not the surviving spouse and did not oversee the estate.

Clawback of estate disbursements to beneficiaries? Extremely doubtful on a first contact letter from debt collector if it doesn't explicitly state that in the letter.

I do not believe sister has any responsibility to communicate with debt collector or provide any information whatsoever.

Send the certified letter. Either it will go away, or debt collector will come back with additional information and demands.

Not sure if we are talking about the same thing. I am not discussing tactics to avoid paying. I am discussing if the creditor could have a valid claim against the beneficiary of an.estate.

If there is no estate then I am sure you are correct.

Otherwise, the deceased's estate is responsible for the debts of the deceased. That is why part of the probate process is seeking to find creditors. Such claims would be satisfied by the estate to the extent of the estate's resources. The material you linked acknowledges this.

If there is an estate, I am pretty sure the estate cannot avoid satisfying a valid debt of the deceased by simply quickly disbursing funds to beneficiaries, who can then claim zero responsibility under your logic.

 

[disneysteve]

There’s no estate. No will. She had no assets and apparently at least 10K in credit card debt and we wouldn’t be surprised if there was more. She was a home shopping addict. QVC stock probably dropped when she died.

And no my wife never co-signed anything. She’s not that stupid.

 

[Montecfo]

Then I think the notice is best ignored.

 

[FlaGator]

Just tell them to take a long walk off a short pier and never call you again. If they do, tell them to indulge in self-fornication and hang up.

They know their only leverage is intimidation and they have no legal basis to collect from you wife.

Don't make it more complicated than that.

 

[pb4uski]

I would write to them, explain that I am not responsible for the debt as I was not a joint owner of the Discover card, co-signer or tied to the account in any way and I have not received and do not expect to receive any money from her estate and that they should contact the probable court. Then add in that any further contact may result in a harassment complaint with the legal authorities.

 

[tryan]

CC debt is unsecured ... ignore

 

[Gumby]

The federal Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA) provides protections against collection actions. Among other things, it requires collectors to stop attempts to contact you if you provide written notice. It is also illegal try to collect a debt not legally owed and they must provide validation of the debt within 5 days of your request. You should always reference the FDCPA in communications with them, deny that you owe anything and indicate that you will will take action under the FDCPA if they do not stop.

The following links may prove helpful:

https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/finance/fair-debt-collection-practices-act

https://www.ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/rules/fair-debt-collection-practices-act-text

https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/what-laws-limit-what-debt-collectors-can-say-or-do-en-329/

https://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/supmanual/cch/fairdebt.pdf