dying mother -- cash assets?

Question

I'm afraid there's no way to say this without cold, but believe me, I love and respect my mother. I've taken care of her for two years.

But, anyway, she will only be around for another year or so. She'll be leaving behind a good deal of credit card debt...about $60k as near as I can tell. She also has about $75k in the bank. What do I do about this?

I see no reason why the credit card companies should've extended a sick old woman that kind of credit to begin with. It's predatory in my mind. I'm an authorized user of her bank account but I'm not on the account itself, I don't think. Not sure how that works. She wants me to take the money out so they won't get it when she's gone. What's the legality of doing this? I don't want to do it right before she goes, obviously. I'll have other things on my mind. I don't know what to do.

Answer 1

She can legally give you a gift of 12,000.00 per year tax free to you. She should write the check now. The credit card companies will go after her estate when she dies, so it is best to take action now.
Get a will if she does not have one. You can go online a get a basic one for very little money. Also, get all of her papers together. You should know have in one place, a list of all life and medical insurance providers and user names/account numbers and passwords. Ditto for all creditors.
Get bank signature cards for her account and have her make you a signer of checks. Get power of attorney now to act on her behalf (also very cheap on the web).
Any large withdrawals of cash would be suspicious. She can though hand over a few hundred dollard here and there (off the books) if in currency.
The credit card companies will generally get an attorney for large credit card balances, so do nothing blatant that may show intent to defraud them.

Answer 2

Sorry to here about your Mom. I went through the same thing, I took care of my Mom for over 6-years before she passed.

To answer your question, if you are an authorized user on your Mom's bank account? You have access to her money. If you are an authorized user on any of her credit cards? You will not be responsible for any debt that she has when she dies. But the credit cards will come after her estate for their money.

If you close your Mom's bank account and then open another in your name only, you can make the monthly payments for your Mom and when the time comes that she is no longer around, there is really nothing the credit card companies can do.

There are other things to consider, is there any property, stocks, bonds etc. in your Mom's name? If so the credit card companies will come after it. They have the right to come after any asset that exist in your Mom's estate.

I was lucky, my Mom did not owe anyone anything and every account she had was joint in both of our names, so when she passed everything was mine.

Good luck.

Answer 3

See a lawyer now and do as he/she says, there is something call once in a life time maxium gift. Your mother should write a check for the amount and sign it, other then I am not sure of 50% statement by other writer.

If you look at it from the facts, credite card company cannot monitor how your mother spends the money, or they have no way to know about the health of your mother(privacy acts).

It is her wish but it may be illegal and unethical both.

Answer 4

Sure.. contest it. What have you got to lose? I don't know you're family. But from the situation you've described it does sound pretty sick that your dad has died and left you with nothing. Sure people may say that kids show work hard and make their money on their own. But who is it that brought you into the world? Your dad has died and doesn't have the ability to use his house, money etc. So if he has decided to give it all to his girlfriend and not to you that is really disturbing, and he obviously doesn't care about you as much as you previously thought. Harsh words, but from what you have explained, it does seem very true. It is clearly an injustice but what can you do? I suppose the main thing you should think about now is why your dad decided to give it all to his girlfriend and not you. Maybe he did have good intentions. Maybe he thought you would make plenty of money. His reasons for giving it all to her could be because she has kids, and he may have felt she needed it more than you. Of course I'm just taking guesses here. But I hope its helped you to think that your dad may have had good intentions after all. But then again, that may not be true. Only you will know.

Answer 5

If the credit cards are delinquent, it is possible to have professionals settle them out for 40-50 cents on the dollar, maybe less. I like the idea of the 12,000 gift to you as well.

Answer 6

Credit card or bank loan accounts are insured. Withdraw the money from the bank account.

Answer 7

If she dies with this unresolved, they will come after her estate. Beleive me, they have ways of finding out you withdrew the money and then you will have to prove in court how you spent the money.
Check to make sure whether or not you are on the account. As such, you own half that money. Make sure of this at the bank.
What you really really need to do is to contact a good estate attorney.

Answer 8

im sorry for whats happening....but it sucks that cards could come after you. you may have to call them to explain the situation to them. some cards have protection for death, injuries and fraud. doenst hurt to talk to them..also clear out the bank account..u dotn want them taking it from there.

Answer 9

You are fool. There is No word: Dying mother. Mother can be either live or dead. She can die in next moment. She can live for next 20 years. Who knows. You never know.