Dead fathers medical bills

[DragRace]

My dad passed away sept 14th 2012. He has medical bills that are currently unpaid.I talked to my lawyer,he said my dad's money that is in his bank account will be used to cover medical bills,and what bllls arent able to be paid,will have to be left unpaid if the bill amounts exceed whats in his bank account.

Now today,I talked to my lawyers secretary,she claims I signed a paper saying if the bills exceed the amount in the bank,I'll pay whats left,I told her straight up I never agreed to such an arrangement.I feel like I'm gettin screwed around,she scheduled a 10am apointment to talk this over with my lawyer.

 

[mrsilv04]

Sorry to hear of your loss. If you signed something that states that, then they need to cough up a copy of it. Plain and simple.

 

[stumpguy]

we had the same issue with my grandmother and i can tell you that if you cant settle this with the current lawyer then you will have to hire another one.Yes it you will have dueling lawyers but it was worth paying two then paying medical bills.things will get resolved in the end but stay strong and good luck.

 

[Trav]

Sorry for the loss of your dad.
Did you sign anything at all? Maybe the swine's put something in there you would need a 10x microscope to read.
If you didn't and they cant produce it tell them to go scratch.

 

[Sunnyinhollister]

First of all, sorry for your loss. My father passed away on October 5th so I have an idea of what you are going through. First of all did your dad have medical insurance, medicare, or anything like it? IF so you will need to get a copy of the EOB (Explanation Of Benefits) that shows what the billed, what was covered, and what your father would have been responsible for. Sometimes providers will not bill correctly or not bill the secondary insurance and try to stick you with the bill. Sometimes providers will bill you for a balance even though the EOB says patient responsibility is zero.

Good luck with it.

 

[eljefino]

I'm incredulous that someone somewhere would put next of kin on the hook for medical bills. Or what, they'd refuse to treat him? That's morally wrong and if true drag your feet every step of the way and have them sue you with a jury trial. Debts don't follow generations in first world societies.

 

[sprocketser]

Well that sux , sorry for you , I lost my dad too this year late April , but luckily we didn t have hospital bills .

I must say good luck with this bill matters ,

 

[DragRace]

The lawyer from the start stated:

"Any bills that are not paid,because there arent enough funds in my dad's bank account will simply just go unpaid"

So to say the least,I'm sitting here wondering what the heck the secretary is trying to feed me full of?

 

[Boomer]

Who is the executor? This is really a metter for the estate to deal with. I was the executor for my dad when he died three years ago. I used his funds to pay all his outstanding medical bills as well as phone, electric, etc. I also called places where he had paid in advance like car insurance and got a pro-rated amount back. Unless you signed a paper, you are NOT responsible. The executor should be handling this. Are you the executor?

 

[stephen9666]

How do you know the secretary knows what she's talking about?

 

[DragRace]

Originally Posted By: Boomer
Who is the executor? This is really a metter for the estate to deal with. I was the executor for my dad when he died three years ago. I used his funds to pay all his outstanding medical bills as well as phone, electric, etc. I also called places where he had paid in advance like car insurance and got a pro-rated amount back. Unless you signed a paper, you are NOT responsible. The executor should be handling this. Are you the executor?

I did not sign any sort of paper saying I would take on medical bills.No,I'm not executor

 

[DragRace]

Originally Posted By: stephen9666
How do you know the secretary knows what she's talking about?


I'm assuming she doesnt thats why I'm gonna talk to my attorney tomorrow,because this is nothing like what we had talked about before hand.This whole thing came outta left field today when I tried to call today.

 

[DB_Cooper]

Originally Posted By: DragRace
Originally Posted By: Boomer
Who is the executor? This is really a metter for the estate to deal with. I was the executor for my dad when he died three years ago. I used his funds to pay all his outstanding medical bills as well as phone, electric, etc. I also called places where he had paid in advance like car insurance and got a pro-rated amount back. Unless you signed a paper, you are NOT responsible. The executor should be handling this. Are you the executor?

I did not sign any sort of paper saying I would take on medical bills.No,I'm not executor


Sorry about your loss,and, the executor is responsible for collecting any bills and identifying any assets. Depending on state law and how the estate is dissolved (probate or simple probate), surviving children's proceeds from assets may be reduced by unpaid medical bills and other unpaid bills. You can insulate yourself depending on how the estate is being handled.

When my Mother passed away, I did a full probate even though the assets were slim. Post an ad notifying the estate is in probate and all unpaid accounts must submit a bill by XX date (depending on state law)..any bills not received are gone, good bye bill.

If the lawyer is the executor..he/she may be trying to keep as much as possible on the asset side..the lawyer may collect a percentage as the fee.

Who is the executor? How is the estate being managed? You should not be liable back to the estate unless it was a simple probate and some weird motives somewhere.

 

[DuckRyder]

I'm sorry for your loss.

Is he YOUR attorney or the Estates attorney?

 

[JHZR2]

Sorry to hear of your loss. Did you have power of attorney? Did you take your father under your care as a custodian or because he was unable to make decisions or care for himself?

Just thinking out loud... If there was a reason that you were custodian, kind of like if you had a minor that had to go into the hospital, I wonder if that would make you responsible.

 

[DragRace]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Sorry to hear of your loss. Did you have power of attorney? Did you take your father under your care as a custodian or because he was unable to make decisions or care for himself?

Just thinking out loud... If there was a reason that you were custodian, kind of like if you had a minor that had to go into the hospital, I wonder if that would make you responsible.

No I did not take my father under my care,he made his own decisions for everything.

 

[DragRace]

Originally Posted By: DuckRyder
I'm sorry for your loss.

Is he YOUR attorney or the Estates attorney?


My attorney for now,unless he's playing games,which I will find out tomorrow morning.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: DragRace

No I did not take my father under my care,he made his own decisions for everything.


Then that does sound highly suspect. I see no reason why you would be liable for anything. Id imagine that all of your father's estate not legally protected could be liquidated to pay bills though...

 

[Cutehumor]

also, I would question any medical bills that come in. long story short, I accummulated over 700K medical bills for 25 days in the hospital. insurance paid 300K of it. my out of pocket max for the year wa 5k according to my insurance plan. Apparently, I paid 6k and complained to the hospital and got a 1k refund. It happens fast b/c you are billed from doctors, hospital, blood tests, surguries, and etc.

when my daughter had her ear tubes put in, her primary insurance under my wife was billed, but her secondary insurance on my insurance was not billed. when my daughter was born, my wife's primary insurance was billed, and my secondary insurance was not. this totalled a 2k bill sent directly to me, I have been fighting it ever since. the people who work in billing departments are not smart. did I forget to mention the birth of my daughter I got a sent a 26k bill in the beginning? this is with two insurance companies. I got it reduced to under 2k, but they still didn't bill my secondary insurance either. billing department didn't add up the bill right. it seems like the charges are all billed with funny money too.

 

[Win]

Did you make some sort of personal guarantee of your fathers bill(s) when he was admitted for, or as a condition of, medical treatment?

English common law required certain contracts to be in writing, one of them being a promise to pay the debts of another person.

My state has codified the old english statute of frauds and I would expect that most other states have as well in some form.

By all means discuss this with a lawyer licensed to practice in your state.