tellmetrue Posted December 18, 2004 Report Share Posted December 18, 2004 June 2002 collection agency sent letter: "Purchased your credit card account." P + I over $7000. Agency offered to settle for a little over 50%, or would take monthly installments for P only, & forgive Interest. About that time, debtor abandoned the place where he was living due to some problem with local sheriff. He left all his mail, papers, etc. behind. Sometime after he showed up "missing", his landlord cleaned up the place, scooping up all the papers, mail, etc. from drawers and tables into a bag, which was soon forgotten in a closet at the landlord's office as there was no way to contact Debtor... Fast forward about 2.5 years (That's now.) Debtor was recently killed by an automobile. His only asset is the liability insurance from the driver's policy. After Debtor's debts are paid, his heirs will receive the rest of the insurance proceeds. Sometime after Debtor was killed, Landlord came across the long-forgotten bag of papers. Among the papers was the above-described letter from collection agency. Knowing circumstances of Debtor's life, it is doubtful that he ever paid the Collection Agency, but there is no way to know without contacting the agency, which would seem to be a foolish act.Under the laws of Debtor's state, SOL for credit card debt is 4 years. Heirs can collect the insurance by a simple affidavit to the court, where they swear that "These are the assets and debts of the deceased" (Debtor). Then when the insurance money is paid, debts are paid first, then heirs.BUT, once these heirs receive the money, they are "liable to any person having a prior right". So their swearing bears some risk if there are REAL unknown debts. (At least to the extent of the $$$ received from insurance proceeds.) Perhaps the heirs, being unsure if there is a debt, could hold the $$$ in the bank until 4 years after the date of the CA letter (Yeah, sure they will.)QUESTIONS: THE MAIN QUESTION IS, MUST HEIRS LIST THIS AS A DEBT? IF THEY FAIL TO LIST IT (AND PAY IT) IS COLLECTION AGENCY LIKELY TO SEEK PAYMENT FROM THEM? (How would CA know?)***If it is 2.5 years from date of collection agency letter, is it likely that account first became delinquent MORE THAN 4 years ago, therefore the SOL has run?***How long do credit card companies wait to turn account to collection agency after it becomes delinquent?***If CA made a claim, wouldn't they have to prove it? How could they do that if Debtor is dead?Would more information help? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dixiedrifter Posted December 18, 2004 Report Share Posted December 18, 2004 I'm taking it there was no will since the death was untimely. In that event everything will go intestate succession via the courts. It will be the heirs responisbility to elect a personal representative who will open up the estate with the court.The PR will pay all the bills first, run an ad for several weeks in a paper doing a "submit your claims against the estate now or forever hold your peace" type deal. In the case of the CA, they will probably have to be notified by law to submit a claim against the estate. Once they submit the claim it can be denied due to the SOL expiring.Once that is done, all claims will be forever barred and then the remaining monies may be distributed amongst the heirs according to the laws of the state of the decendant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recovering Attorney Posted December 20, 2004 Report Share Posted December 20, 2004 I don't see how the fiduciary can avoid addressing this issue, as it is known to him or a person interested in the estate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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