:( My Grandfather was 98 passed November 2007. I was not on any of his credit card accounts. About a month before his death he made a cash advance over the phone on his own. I had nothing to do with the transaction. At the end of the phone call he asked them if I could help him give the account information because he was hard of hearing, that is the extent that I had any involvement in this. I was not authorized on this account as a user or in any capacity. Now they are trying to intimidate me saying they are going to sew me for fraud and this balance is my responsibility and that their records show that they spoke to me and not him.

I am in Michigan. There is no estate, no property, no monies, no survivors. I was power of attorney but only needed to use that in the last 3 months of his life, at his request. He was at the doctor that same day and had a very detailed discussion with him about his wishes, and the state of his health options of treatment etc. I am getting a letter from the doctor to verify his state of mind and capacity to handle his own affairs.

This is Bank of America that is doing this.

I am not the executor of the estate, since there is no estate or probate there is not any need to involve the executor. I have sent letters to the company along with copies of the death certificate. They said they were going to get the information from the bank and find out what checks were written and who signed them etc. I think this is just intimidation. I do not feel that they have any grounds to go after me. My name was not involved in any way with that account. I do have a joint checking account with my Grandfather we have had that account since around 2001. The house was joint with him, a quit claim deed has been recorded removing him and adding my husband. All property house and van were joint with me and are now owned solely by me.

How worried should I be about this? Can they come after me? Do they have any rights to get records from my grandfathers joint account at the bank? Should I close that account, it is now dormant. Any advice to get them to stop calling my home and give up on this intimidation strategy.:confused:

It seems to me that your grandfather's estate had some assets, and consequently any debts he owed should be paid out of those assets. For example, you mention a joint checking account, joint ownership of a house, property in the house, and joint ownership of a van - how were these assets titled? BoA may have rights to come after those assets for payment out of the estate. However, they have no right to come after your assets - only your grandfather's.

There were no assets. All the property was joint with myself and in Michigan when there is a death the ownership goes directly to the co owner. Nothing is being sold. All his assets had to be spent down in 2000 when we qualified my Grandma for medicade. There was no money in any accounts, well .57 cents that's it. All of the property is willed to me and jointly owned. Then Mortgage is in my name. Nothing is being sold and there is no value to the van it is also in my name. All these assets are mine and always have been.

OK, so there were no assets. In that case the credit card company has to eat the loss.

Here's a web site that describes your sitiuation - it basically says that if BoA can't come up with a copy of the credit card application with you as a co-signer, they are out of luck. If they keep hounding you, you may want to hire an attorney to draft a "get lost" letter on your behalf.

What happens to credit card debt after death (http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/credit-card-debt-death-1282.php)

First I am sure you are aware that at the time of death the Power of Attorney ends. The rules of probate varies greatly from state to state.
So one could not have used power of attorney after the death of the person to do any actions.

But Power of attorney does not make a person liable for their debts either.

Now they may look for where that cash advance went, if it went into the joint accouint, and was not spent in a obvoius way for some event, they could claim that the cash advance money is still in there and they should be given that back.

So yes, if they can prove that a cash advance was taken just weeks before default on a debt, and that the money was put into an joint account, they could come after that account in court ( in some states)

So just the pure credit card debt is another issue, but the cash advance prior to death is aontoher issue

The advance went for various events. Major repairs to automobiles, 24 hour private duty nurse, furnace fire and new furnace, medical care and supplies for him. These were how that was spent.

Yes I know power of attorney does end at death and no further actions have been made since the time of death. All checks were cleared from all accounts including the joint account before his death and the balances were less than $1.00 in each. The money is not still in there and it was spent on things for his care and bills that he directed.

Sounds like I should ask for them to produce papers showing that I signed my name as borrower on the account. I can continue to avoid their calls and frustrate the H@** out of them, might be fun. I just wanted to know how far they can legally go. Do you have a "get lost letter" or any well placed words I might borrow?