[Rebecca Sherman]

My mother recently passed away. At one time she listed me on her Chase card (about 6-7 years ago) as a user, but she was the primary card holder. I filed bankruptcy about 7 years ago and at that time the lawyer told me that a notice would be sent to Chase and my name would be removed from the account since I was not primary card holder. It was. Now, Chase is contacting me saying that I am responsible for my late mother's card debt. Am I?
Thank you
Rebecca

[Pompanomom]

You are not responsible IF the lawyer sent the notice and Chase received it. The lawyer should be able to produce a copy of the letter. Write to Chase and send them a copy of the letter.

[Rebecca Sherman]

You are not responsible IF the lawyer sent the notice and Chase received it. The lawyer should be able to produce a copy of the letter. Write to Chase and send them a copy of the letter.

Thank you for your response.

I know that chase took my name off all subsequent mailings. Also, several times I had to make some calls to chase on my mother's behalf to set up payment arrangements, they did not allow me to talk to them unless my mother gave oral permission or was on the phone. This seems to be a good indicator that they removed me.

I'm not sure I remember my bankruptcy attorney's name, and I know that I no longer have correspondence from him.

What do you think? Even if Chase didn't take my name off, as a user and not primary card holder, am I still responsible?

[Fr_Chuck]

You can check the bankruptcy court records and they will show you who your attorney was.

So you don't remember, you had better find him. Sorry to be blunt. But Sorry about the loss of your mother
If you don't get your evidence and if they take you to court, you will end up paying it most likely.

So you need to supply your evidence.

Now there is another issue, when she died, the bills would go to her estate. So who is handling the estate, what property is in the estate and so on. If there is money or property in the estate, the estate has to pay the bills form the sale of the property in the estate.

[Rebecca Sherman]

My mother recently passed away. At one time she listed me on her Chase card (about 6-7 years ago) as a user, but she was the primary card holder. I filed bankruptcy about 7 years ago and at that time the lawyer told me that a notice would be sent to Chase and my name would be removed from the account since I was not primary card holder. It was. Now, Chase is contacting me saying that I am responsible for my late mother's card debt. Am I?
Thank you
Rebecca

Does anyone with a legal background have information about whether a person who is an authorized user on a credit card account is held responsible for the primary card holder's debts after death? Other posts on this site indicate not.

[Fr_Chuck]

Yes you are lible unless the attorney had you taken off when you filed bankruptcy.

The real issue is, why is it is a valid debt. What happened with the probate estate. Since your moms debt would have all gone into probate to be cleared thoug any money or property in the estate first.
If this was not done this is the first thing that needs to be done.

And while not what you discussed, since you said she recently passed away, I am just wondering if this was done yet.

Someone looking at a problem should look at all the possible issues

[Rebecca Sherman]

yes you are lible unless the attorney had you taken off when you filed bankruptcy.

The real issue is, why is it is a valid debt. What happened with the probate estate. Since your moms debt would have all gone into probate to be cleared thoug any money or property in the estate first.
If this was not done this is the first thing that needs to be done.

And while not what you discussed, since you said she recently passed away, I am just wondering if this was done yet.

Someone looking at a problem should look at all the possible issues

FR Chuck
I'm wondering because your response contradicts other posts regarding similar questions of whether a user is legally responsible. Other posts state that a user who is not a primary cardholder (one whose own credit was used to obtain the card, or a joint users who are married) are not responsible. The debt goes to the estate. So, I'm wondering what information you have that helps me understand why your advice is different from others who have posted. I appreciate it.
That aside, my mother's estate hasn't been probated yet. The notices are just now going out to creditors.

[Fr_Chuck]

If your mothers estate has not been probated, then no one is responsible at this point, the debt will be notified of her death and who is going to be over the estate.

The user can at times be held resposnible, esp for any charges they made on their card. Also many people who believe they are merely a card holder are actually joint on the account if set up at the same time.

Now normally you will not be, but there are times when it does happen.
Also if you resond incorrectly, do not have proof to present in court, many many times the credit card companies win by default.

Next of course credit card companies lie, all the time, they will say and trick you into saying many things.

But at this point, no one owe anything but the estate, the estate is and acts as the person who passed away, the estate can be sued and can sue.
So at this time, the card company merely needs to be old to contact the estate for payment.

This is why I bought this up.

[Fr_Chuck]

Not sure if anyone else is having a trouble today, this system is going so slow.

But I misworded, normally no you are not liable, but there can be some reasons that make you,
I was thinking of the estate being liable

I was trying to correct, but this system froze up and would not let me backin

[Loan_Guy]

Rebecca,

I'm no attorney, but there are a couple hard and fast rules as far as liability.

First, pull copies of your credit report. You can get them free from www.annualcreditreport.com if you have not done so in the last 12 months. My next choice would be myFICO - FICO Credit Scores | Get a Free Credit Report Online.

Is the credit card in question on your report? If not, you should be fine. If it is, is it listed as "AU" for authorized user or "J" for joint?

If it is listed as "AU", you are just a user and not responsible for the charges.

Second, let's say that you are listed as a joint borrower, meaning that legally you could be held responsible. I have seen in many cases that if you can prove that you were on the card and did not benefit from it, in other words Mom used it exclusively and she paid all the bills, they may not hold you liable. Really it was just a convenience thing for her.

With that said, usually they will get whatever they can from the estate (as long as her spouse is not living) and usually leave it at that.

On a lighter note, after my Mom passed, my Dad kept getting collection calls for a card she held only in her name. After a while of them browbeating him and just generally acting like junk bill collectors, he gave them a phone number to call where she was. They were pretty mad when they called him back after calling the cemetery. That was the last time they called however.

LG

PS. Sorry about your Mom.

[Rebecca Sherman]

Rebecca,

I'm no attorney, but there are a couple hard and fast rules as far as liability.

First, pull copies of your credit report. You can get them free from www.annualcreditreport.com if you have not done so in the last 12 months. My next choice would be myFICO - FICO Credit Scores | Get a Free Credit Report Online.

Is the credit card in question on your report? If not, you should be fine. If it is, is it listed as "AU" for authorized user or "J" for joint?

If it is listed as "AU", you are just a user and not responsible for the charges.

Second, let's say that you are listed as a joint borrower, meaning that legally you could be held responsible. I have seen in many cases that if you can prove that you were on the card and did not benefit from it, in other words Mom used it exclusively and she paid all the bills, they may not hold you liable. Really it was just a convenience thing for her.

With that said, usually they will get whatever they can from the estate (as long as her spouse is not living) and usually leave it at that.

On a lighter note, after my Mom passed, my Dad kept getting collection calls for a card she held only in her name. After a while of them browbeating him and just generally acting like junk bill collectors, he gave them a phone number to call where she was. They were pretty mad when they called him back after calling the cemetery. That was the last time they called however.

LG

PS. Sorry about your Mom.

Dear Loan Guy:
Thank you so much for this good advice. I will pull the report ASAP and see what it indicates. At least I will know and be prepared. I feel better already. Your dad's story is delightful. I might have to borrow his idea in the future, but I'm sure he won't mind. Thanks again.
Rebecca

[Rebecca Sherman]

My mother recently passed away. At one time she listed me on her Chase card (about 6-7 years ago) as a user, but she was the primary card holder. I filed bankruptcy about 7 years ago and at that time the lawyer told me that a notice would be sent to Chase and my name would be removed from the account since I was not primary card holder. It was. Now, Chase is contacting me saying that I am responsible for my late mother's card debt. Am I?
Thank you
Rebecca

Dear Loan Guy
I pulled up my three credit reports. The Chase card is listed on one, TransUnion, but not on the others. I'm listed as an authorized user, not a joint account. I also see that Mom had put me down as an authorized user on her Discover card, but I never knew that. Thank you again for the advice -- I've printed out the reports and will feel a lot more confident in dealing with the Chase card people.
Regards
Rebecca