Anonymous Posted December 6, 2002 Report Share Posted December 6, 2002 My mother passed away 10/01 with no will. She owned a home, and had lots of debt, mostly credit cards.Many of the debts are now held by third party creditors, and the last activity on the accts was 1/98 to 10/98.When does the SOL in CA pass, at her date of death, or when the estate became solvent which was 11/02. Do we need to send letters of validation to these creditors? At what point can they no longer collect on these debts? Obvoiusly credit reportings are no longer important. Our probate attorney was no help, so we're finding another. Please help, these debts are in excess of $20,000. [Edit by loves1 on Thursday, December 5, 2002 @ 09:58 PM] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swede Posted December 8, 2002 Report Share Posted December 8, 2002 Welcome to the board loves. Unfortunately, I don't know the answer to your question and nobody else seems to either or they would post it. Just wanted you to know that you're not being ignored so don't be sad. In the future, just post questions we know, it's much easier that way (jk). I'm sorry to hear about your mom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokyjoe Posted December 8, 2002 Report Share Posted December 8, 2002 Loves, Do a search on the net in google.com under your states statue of limitations, probably likeie. Ne state statue of limitations, etc.. I had a similiar situation and recall that the statue of limitations for the estate of a deceased person is much less than for living people, more like one or two years. If your mom didn't have much of an estate or if the remaining children are taking care of the proceeds without probate or an attorney, you might just want to wait out these debts. You are your siblings are not liable for the debt but the estate could be. I know in my state if an estate is probated or the executor of the estate handles the affairs, state law says that if you make a public statement such as in the newspaper that "this is a notice to all creditors of the estate of so and so", that after this notice is posted and if any creditors make claim after so many days of the notice, no creditors can lay any further claims against the estate. Ie., it's like come forward now and make your claim or forever be silent, you have now been informed, this is being put to rest once and for all. It would probably be in your best interest to contact an attorney or do some research on the web under your state laws regarding estates and probate, etc.. Go to google.com and search under california state statues, california century code, etc. You'll find all the laws under probate and wills, etc.. Learn the laws and give yourself some peace of mind. As far as your mom's debts, I wouldn't feel bad or worry or feel responsible for them, life has no guarantees and things such as death do happen. As far as these credit card companies are concerned, their position as far as being able to collect anything is probably slim to none and they know it, ie., how do they bring suit against a probated estate which has given notice to the public and all creditors to come forward now or forever remain silent or a deceased person's ability to pay back a debt when that peson is no longer alive. In addition, the courts want these matters to be settled as quickly as possible so life can go on and they know that it's not right for creditors to haunt the survivors of a deceased person for years after death and so alot of the laws make the time barred limitations short. I'm not an attorney but have gone through what your going through and so thought this might help. Do your homework and you'll feel alot better. In summary, learn the laws about the rights of these creditors to collect on an estate rather than worrying about validation, etc. or Sol. Those avenues apply to living, existing people who incurred the debts. Now that you mom is gone a whole new set of rules probably applies. Once you know the laws, probably all you'll have to do is notify these companies of the demise of you mother and they'll probaly go away. Sorry about your mom!! Good luck! [Edit by smokyjoe on Sunday, December 8, 2002 @ 03:32 AM] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creditfix Posted December 9, 2002 Report Share Posted December 9, 2002 Definitely do your research. In California the SOL for debts is 2 years unless there is a signed contract in which case it is 4 years. Calawyer, where are you? This looks like one for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadynRed Posted December 9, 2002 Report Share Posted December 9, 2002 In general, the debts of a deceased person must be settled out of the estate. If there are assets that can be liquidated in the estate, then those can be sold to pay creditors. If the person left no estate, then the creditors are out of luck. The fact that your mother did have a house makes it vulnerable. However, in most states, there IS a time limit in which a creditor must make its claim against the estate in order to get any piece of it. If they miss that deadline, they're out of luck. You need to find out what that time limit is in your state. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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