BofA tries to shame son into paying his dead mother's credit card

If you couldn't sign on the account and if you didn't inherit anything, they can't touch you. It is unusual not to inherit anything from a spouse, even if it's just their clothes and half the value of any joint accounts, household goods and furniture. Half the value of any joint accounts is fair game. Theoretically, the bank could demand any of the personalty be sold and the proceeds applied to the debt. In practice, even banks don't typically stoop that low.

 

Why would you assume that? They don't owe it. If the 80-year-old has $20,000 in assets, it's the bank's. If not, tough luck. The kids don't owe squat.

 

Correct.

 

I don't mean any offence, and it's not that I don't believe you - far from it - I just couldn't help but notice the incongruity in regularly making more than the minimum payment yet still needing "several" years to pay off a "small" loan. Let me guess, your interest rate is about 30 per cent, right?

 

Worst bank that ever used me I ever used.

 

Sure, it reads as if it is a dickhead move on the part of the bank. But I think most of the gut reactions of people expressed on this board gives a pretty good view on how warped our society has become when it comes to credit.

What if your mother had borrowed $20,000 from a friend, and, after she died, that friend came up to you and broached the topic of re-paying?

We've come to consider it a God-given right to buy things with money we do not have.

Again, just to be clear, if the story is accurate, the BofA representative either crossed the line, or is in bad need of a lesson in tact.

Sure, we can blame the banks - and as somebody with a tremendous amount of debt, I've been there - but what would happen if every bank in America suddenly threw up its hands and said, "You know what? Fine. No credit for anybody. No car loans. No house loans. No credit cards." They'd be the opposite of vultures. And everybody would be twice as pissed off.

 

Well, if he was co-owner of the mother's house, then that's part of the estate. And the bank could rightfully go after that.

If the mother dies and has no estate or the children have no financial ties with their mother , they are legally liable for zilch.

 

If I make a loan to someone and I want their kids to guarantee, then I make it part of the agreement in the first place. If not, then it's ludicrous to ask the kids to pay it back. As it relates to old people, some discrimination is perfectly legal. If an 80-year-old comes to you looking for a 30-year mortgage, you have the right to say, "Uh, no."

 

What is the deceased has a $35,000 insurance policy? The credit card company has a shot at that, right?

 

Of course. The $35,000 is part of the estate, and that's why the legal representative of the estate must publich, three or four times, notices advertising that the estate is being settled and all creditors must file their claims with the estate to get paid. I'm no lawyer, but isn't that what probate is all about?

We run several of these legal notices in our paper every day. If the B of A wanted its money, then file a claim with the attorney handling the estate, and then get in line. The heirs get what's left over.

The guy should have told the B of A person who was handling the estate, and then hung up.

Hypothetically, if my parents owe some money when they die, and don't have a large enough estate to handle the debt (which won't happen), I'm sure as hell not paying it off.

 

Aww, come on, don't you want to help them out? :

 

That is very true and one reason I am surprised that this recession didn't come a whole lot sooner.

The entire economy of the developed world runs on credit. Think about it: how many people do you know who have the resources to walk into a car dealership and pay cash for that new car? Much less pay cash for a house? Or even a big-screen TV?

If it were not for credit, people couldn't buy these things. Nothing large-scale would get sold. Nothing large-scale would get built or manufactured. It's credit --- basically the idea that I'll pay for it 'someday' --- that has kept the flow of goods and services moving.

Now almost everyone is up to their eyeballs in debt with no way on earth to even think about paying for it. Lose your job and all of a sudden you go from struggling to pay the monthly minimums to struggling to pay the rent and put food on the table.