Hi all, I've been trying to monitor the board but things have been a little difficult lately. When I last posted at length, I mentioned how my SO's mother perished in a house fire. Well things are slowly getting back on track--and then the attacks last week which isn't helping anybody cope. I expressed some fears with regard to greedy relatives and gold diggers looking to cash in on her death. My fears were justified--the widower's sister tried to do an end-run around and grab her car but it didn't work Anyway, here's a our problem. The mail came today and one of the forwarded items was a statement for from MBNA for a Platinum+ Card. Now then, is my SO or her dad responsible for paying this bill? It's only in the name of the deceased so there's no joint credit report problems that I can think of. Here's the kicker, neither one of them knew she had this credit card!!! The limit is $9,000 the current balance including a late fee from last month is $10.8k (APR is now 24.98 penalty rate)!!!! I'm inclined to tell them they don't need to pay the bill but I don't know if that's (legally) correct.
Deceased? Mbna could in theory garnish any life insurance policy, but otherwise, do them a favor and enclose a letter explaining, and a certified (notarized?) copy of the deatch certificate. Banks eat the costs.. (or more like, other customers who bank there eat the costs) of such a tragedy..
THEY WILL WRITE IT OFF...just provide proof... If you really want to assume the debt...tell them to remove the late fees and reduce the interest rate to a logical one...like 11.99%.
The limit is $9,000 the current balance including a late fee from last month is $10.8k (APR is now 24.98 penalty rate)!!!! Now thats what I call one hell of a late fee,1800 dollars.LOL'S
You might be able to get 0.00% fixed, because their OTHER option is just write it off... They may try to "SUE" the estate...
Thanks for the info! We're going to call tomorrow...you would think that someone would have checked--we can see 2 MBNA buildings from what was their driveway.
I agree they will eat it. But, there was one comment that they may go after her life insurance policy. The policy is paid to the heirs, not the estate (usually). So it is not available for creditors. Also, if thier marriage is typical, everything probably went automatically to the surviving husband, not through the estate. So it is unlikely they can get any joint assets. They will try to get something. You just need to be firm. There is no way your SO has any liability.