my father recently died leaving enough money to pay off most of his debts,but not all.i contacted those credit card companies that there no funds to pay and informed them of my father's death and that there were no assets to pay these debts.i soon received a letter (from american express) asking to pay the overdue minumum payment of $20.00.sears has a collection agency claiming to be a law firm that called(did not answer) and sent a somewhat threatening letter(have not answered) asking who the personal representitive or attorney hired as such was.i had previously talked to an attorney but did not think his help was needed. there is no probate,no assets to speak of,no personel representitive.what assets my father had(house and car had been in a trust)were passed on to me at my father's death.there were a few savings bonds with his name and my mother's(deceased in 2000)which he never removed but simply cashed after the 1 year waiting period.these i sent to the bureau of debt with my father's and mother's death certificates.they may be returned to me in cash at some point months from now. at least i assume that to be the case.there is about $700 in back retirement pay which will be sent to me at some point.he was retired military and civil service.this a very slow process.the only information these a collection agency would have fromme is my father' address and my home phone.should i communicate with the collection agencies in any way? none of these credit debt(about $6500) are mine. what happens if i ignore them.

LadyLuck1269

All these Bill Collection Agencies HAD THERE Chance to collect in Probate Court. Don't anwser there phone calls, Don't give them any information. If they want it bad enough let them hire a Lawer to gather information and TRY to collect. Chances are your father's debt's out weigh what they would have to pay a Lawer.
And you might want to look at his old mail, and statement's very closely, my Credit Card has a Life Ins policy on it, if I died it pay's off my Credit Card debt.
My advice to you is, stop talking to these people and see how far they want to go with it first! If they come after you, then get a good Lawer.

Fr_Chuck

Just ignore them, The only issue at all could be the trust, depending on how it was done, when it was done and the such. But you as a daughter would not be personally liable, the estate can be liable up to the value of the estate. They may wish to try and prove that the trust was not proper and that the house should have been sold to pay all of the estate debts.

It they show the trust was done merely to hide the value fo the house from being used to pay valid debts, they may have a claim .

But you can ignore them for now and see what they do, NOrmally you send them a copy of the death certificate and tell them all of the estate is paid out.

But no do not communicate to these people at all on the phone, and except to notify them that he is dead and will not be getting paid, leave it at that. And letting them have your home phone was a bad mistake.
They are likely to keep calling and calling hoping to get you to say something wrong, to admit owing the debt or to confirm it as you personally are going to pay something.

shygrneyzs

Since you posted this twice, I will answer you twice. What Fr. Chuck says and what LadyLuck says is true. You can read the following threads - you will the idea. Don't let those companies scare you into paying something you do not owe.

Please follow this thread on estate and family. http://www.askmehelpdesk.com/other-l...ghlight=estate

Also read through this thread on estate and debts after death: http://www.askmehelpdesk.com/other-l...ghlight=estate