When I was in Illinois I was arrested and spent 2 years in Prison on theft charges, I was given 5 years. I have been on Parole in Florida for 1 year, I have recently been in trouble and may be arrested, it's a long story but my father passed away and I helped my mother pay for his funeral by using his credit cards. He did not leave a will, but Im afraid Im going to be prosecuted for this, was it a crime? The whole family knew what was happening but the courts are telling the credit card company that my dad's estate will not pay for these charges on his credit card. My mother is not talking to me and I feel as if she put this all on my head, I did what had to be done for the sake of my dad:( Is there anything I can do about this before it gets bad? Please someone help me. And if I am charged will I be shipped back to Illinois? Or stay in Florida?

Thanks so much,

Jeanna

If you used a charge card without permission or authority, it's theft. The circumstances and purpose do not matter. And, yes, using a cc belonging to a deceased person is a crime.

I'm sorry but there were other alternatives. No one can force you to commit larceny or fraud.

And, yes, you can be charged and "shipped" back to Illinois for violation of parole AFTER you are sentenced for credit card fraud in Florida.

You need a very good Attorney - now.

Thanks you so much for your answer and I was afraid of that answer. But I am not the only guilty party here, my father told me to use his card for specific things, my mother on the other hand went every day and took money from his atm, while he lay dying. Now that I found out about her extra curricular activities with another man, she is being very mean. I told her that I would tell everyone about it... this man is now in my father's home and my mother has just about gotten rid of everything my father ever had in that home.
I took care of my dad, when she wouldn't, I washed and cleaned him and changed his diaper until he took his last breat, no one can deny that. My mother is simply narcisistic,
My sister will no longer speak to her either. I will try to find a lawyer to help me.

God Bless and thanks again for your reply

I understand the conflict in your family. I really do. However, whaterver your mother did or didn't do or who she did or didn't have an affair with does not matter in this case. Now - if someone (including the cc company) pursues your charges AND your mother's charges are included, you have a defense to her portion of the charges. Charges when your father was alive are very different from charges after he passed. Obviously, he could no longer give you permission to use the card.

I am sorry about your father - it's terrible to lose someone you love and then have to deal with this nonsense. I wish you well and I wish you peace.

... but the courts are telling the credit card company that my dad's estate will not pay for these charges on his credit card. ...

Is that true? Is there any money (or other assets worth money) in the estate? Is there a probate estate?

If you or they took money from the cards, before his death and with his permission, that is one thing,

If you or anyone used the cards after this death that is another,

It is correct, the Probate court may not pay for debts on credit cards made after his death, since they could not be authorized. If his wife was on the cards, then she could have used them.

Again, there were other ways to pay for things,
And "how did you use them" did you hand them to the funeral home to pay for the casket ?

...It is correct, the Probate court may not pay for debts on credit cards made after his death, since they could not be authorized. ...

There is a reason I asked for more information about probate. If there is a solvent probate estate, the estate should pay anyway. It was the decedent's funeral, after all. And the personal representative, usually next of kin, controls what the estate pays.


...And "how did you use them" did you hand them to the funeral home to pay for the casket ?

Good question. If there was a criminal conspiracy to defraud the cc company, the undertaker may well be a part of that conspiracy.

I don't see that OP was the next of kin - I have no idea what the family dynamics are but there was a widow (who no longer speaks to OP).

I don't see that OP was the next of kin - ...

The point is that probate doesn't happen on it's own. Someone, usually a member of the family, has to step up to the plate. OP's initial post suggests that he figures the process is automatic, and the mother is acting like a deer caught in the headlights. The process isn't automatic.

My mother's name was not on any of my dad's cards or bank account. She is only on the house.

The cc was faxed to the cremation company but was denied, then my mother wrote a check(from my dads account) and signed my dads name, she was not on the account and this all transpired. Before my dad passed, he loaned me money to pay for my parole, well he sent me a check and that check appeared on the credit card statement, my mother is saying that my father never loaned me the money and since its on his cc statement I should go to jail for it. Im confused, this all transpired before he died and my father told me not to tell my mom about that.

My mother enlisted the help of her brother in law and went to courthouse to start probate? Im not sure how it works. She was going to have my dad's accounts, and the house transferred all in to her name, she said. I don't understand any of it.