When someone dies, what happens with their bills and assets?

Question

If someone has a cell phone, internet service, tv, a home phone etc., what happens? Will it still be in use?

Answer 1

OK.... if someone dies their assets go into probate this is done by a personal representative of the deceased. If the deceased has no will to nominate their own personal rep (if there is a will a copy of the will has to be filed with the probate court), the family can decide who would be best suited for this task (unless a PR is named in the will or if the person named does not want the responsibility). The Personal rep will contact the court with a complete and detailed list of all assets and the death certificate. Any creditors and debtors have to be contacted by the personal rep, creditors and debtors have four months to contact the court with the amount owed on any outstanding debts. The personal rep will then make the payments to the creditors/debtors and should maintain receipts for all of this, the accuracy of the funds in and out is crucial. The family will split the remaining assets, unless there is a will then the assets are divided as described in the will after payment to creditors/debtors. In cases where the estate is fairly high in value, the personal rep also has to make sure that the death tax is paid... that's right, unfortunately not only do we pay to live but we pay to die. I hope this information was helpful. You can contact your Probate court wills/estates division and they should have a couple of packets that will inform you of how to do everything. Not only that but the packets will also contain the needed forms to fill out if you need them. Keep in mind everything that is filed at the court has a fee, but also Personal Reps are allowed payment for their services for overseeing the management of the estate. When the income tax is filed on behalf of the decedant any moneys returned are also added to the estate. The social security adminsitration is notified that the person has passed.
Any services that are on phone, utilities etc.... will remain on until someone contacts those agencies to inform that the person has passed. However, if caught keeping the services of a deceased person, one could be criminally charged. I would also make sure anything such as credit cards are notified of the persons passing asap.

Answer 2

It depends. If someone dies and they have a will, as estate is opened. A personal rep., usually a lawyer, will handle settling the bills and then distributing the money as the person wished. If the person did not have a will, depending on where you live, most often the state will seize the assets, settle the bills, and the dispurse the funds if any heirs assert an interest. If no heirs show up, then the assets are liquidated and the state keeps them. Now, if someone had a cell phone, or a mortgage, or a cable service and somone (say an heir) just moved in and took over the bills and kept paying the mortgage and the cable service, most often those services will keep going because those companies will have no way of knowing that person was deceased. But if there was a will and the personal rep and the attorney handlign the estate step in, usually they will cancel those services because if the person using them runs up and then doesn't pay the bill, it is the estate that is responsible for those bills. Those accounts and bills are not passed on to family members or the heirs though. The bill collectors could only seek a judgment against the estate or the state in order to get them to hand over some of the assets to pay the bills. No one else is responsible.

Answer 3

It TOTALLY depends if the items were willed away or previous assets were set up in a trust. If there was no form of will set up at all, and there is no current spouse to take over a majority of the estate, then the courts will take over the estate and disperse the assets and settle the bills by utilizing the cash and liquidating assets if needed.

For instance, if your mom died, your father would assume ownership of non-probated items from her estate. Probated items will be dispersed by the court as instructed by her will. He would need to cancel her cellphone service, but if he still used the internet service then he would just need ot take her name off the bill if it was on there.

Answer 4

my wife passed away 2 weeks ago.. All the bills in her name I had to call the companies and changed them to my name. The internet still works (both kids have an account on that Internet provider) and the cell phone is the only thing I didn't change because I don't want a new "2 year" agreement.

Answer 5

The assets will be used to pay any bills off. If the assets runout or are not existant then the collector is out of luck. They cant go after the kids because the contract dies as soon as the person in the contact did. They cant just go after someone who wasnt in the contract because they knew the person that died.

Answer 6

Monthly services will continue until someone lets them know the person passed away, or are disconnected for non-payment.

Other bills will have to be paid out of the estate. If there isn't enough to cover them, the family is NOT responsible.

Of course, if the spouse is still alive, then everything continues as normal..

Answer 7

If the deceased has a will, the executor of the will is responsible for canceling the phone service etc. If the deceased doesn't have a will, their estate goes to probate and the courts decide how the assets are distributed.

Answer 8

Any money left in the estate is set aside to pay outstanding bills. After those bills are paid, the remaining assets are divided according to the will. If there is no will, the next of kin is responsible for anything left. If there are not enough assets to pay outstanding bills, the family is responsible for those that are left.

Answer 9

If there is a will, there will be an executor. He will appoint a solicitor and between them they will pay outstanding bills, and distribute the remaining assets in accordance with the will. If there is no will then the next of kin is responsible, and inherits also.

Answer 10

The services will be no longer avaiable when monthly bills are no longer paid.

As long the bills are paid, they usually don't care if the person is no longer living, or even existed at all.