<p>My cousin, who was divorced and had no children passed away suddenly. He lived paycheck to paycheck and relied on his mother for any extras. She lives on social security and has no extra money for herself, siblings had to pay for his funeral. She has now received a $10k hospital bill for him and is in a panic about paying it. He had no health insurance and no assets. Can you give any advice?</p>
<p>She is not obligated to pay unless he was her dependent.
The hospital is just trying to get some payment before eating their losses</p>
<p>Happened with a relative of ours. No one else is responsible. Yes, they will try to get it out of anyone else they can. They even called our house because we have the same last name. They hounded the parents of this person because he had last lived with them, so used their address and telephone number. Probably didn’t help that he had the same first name as his father.</p>
<p>His mother is NOT responsible unless, as mominva said, he was her dependent. But it doesn’t sound like that.</p>
<p>Lassie - Just wanted to say I’m sorry for your family’s loss. Losing a family member is always sad, not matter what the circumstances.</p>
<p>Agree with the other posters, no one should pay any of the deceased’s bills for now. His mother (or siblings) should consult with an attorney regarding finalizing his affairs. But don’t pay any bills for now.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t consult an attorney at this point. They cost $200 an hour and that’s a lot of money.</p>
<p>Instead, I’d just write a letter to the hospital stating that the person who received the bill has no assets and has since passed on, and that she is not financially responsible for his debt. </p>
<p>She should request the hospital have no further contact with her since she does not own the debt. Under federal law, they are required to have no further contact with her unless they can show the debt is hers (which it isn’t).</p>
<p>I hope the mom hadn’t signed as the “guarantor”. </p>
<p>I agree with the steps articulated by botw. In fact, even when he was alive, if his income was low, with most community hospitals, he would have qualified for charity care, probably as an extension of the former Hill-Burton act.</p>
<p>She should call her local Legal Aid for advice if she cannot afford, doesn’t have, or isn’t related to a lawyer. Tell her not to be scared, even if the hospital threatens to bring in a collection agency. They are fishing, that’s all.</p>
<p>She owes nothing, and the less people she pursues the better. She should not contact a lawyer or even legal aid. The hospital cannot not pursue her or even try to make her pay. Less is best on her part. She can put all of the envelopes from the hospital in a larger envelope and return to hospital with note, person deceased.</p>
<p>No, don’t call a lawyer unless she signed hospital forms for him. There’s no reason to up the ante and start hiring professionals at this point.</p>
<p>If she has signed hospital forms (of any kind), then it might be a different story.</p>
<p>Only in the United States…</p>
<p>I suggest Legal Aid because if she is elderly and in a panic (as the OP said) it is helpful to hear advice from someone she can respect. Plenty of elderly people get scammed every year because they want to do the ‘right’ thing – and paying bills falls into that category – or because they get stampeded by unscrupulous people. Hearing from a lawyer that she is not responsible for paying this bill will give her the necessary confidence to say ‘no’ and stick with it. Besides which, lawyers frighten hospitals.</p>
<p>We will all (as taxpayers and as those with insurance) cover the bill. So don’t worry about it.</p>
<p>It sounds like he was employed. If so, he might have insurance – either medical insurance, or life insurance, or both, provided by the company. Hospitals often send out bills before they’ve received insurance payments, and they can look very scary. It may be when all is said and done that his bill is much, much smaller. Either way, it is not his mom’s responsibility. Somebody should check with his employer to see if there were any insurance policies that might apply, and also whether he might have any retirement funds.</p>
<p>A legal aid attorney can help the mom/family with a list of things like that they should check on. I don’t agree with the idea that they should not contact an attorney – there are all kinds of things to consider when someone dies, and a small amount spent on legal fees can have a considerable payoff (and save a lot of headaches).</p>
<p>You can do some Google searching (or another family member can) or spend some time at the local library and get the same advice for free.</p>
<p>Some people don’t mind paying attorneys $200 an hour for their advice. I’m not of that camp. </p>
<p>I think that in this case, simply writing a letter to the hospital advising that the person they are trying to collect from has passed on, has no money, and the person they are trying to contact (mom) is not responsible for the debt would be sufficient.</p>
<p>botw, I have experience with estate attorneys who have saved me hundreds of thousands of dollars (literally). Obviously there is not that kind of money in this estate, but there are a lot of pitfalls and possible assets that aren’t obvious to everyone. The point others have made (and you don’t seem to have read) is that maybe there are other assets or insurance available, and it would be worth checking on. No one is saying the mom should pay the bill. But they miss something that could benefit the family (or should be done legally) if they don’t seek additional advice. I am not an attorney, but I see no reason why a brief meeting with a legal aid attorney should be so offensive to you.</p>
<p>It’s offensive to me for the same reason it should be offensive to all of us. When a destitute person passes on, it shouldn’t be necessary to hire an attorney at $200 to give advice to the grieving family, especially when the person who has died has no money at all. But by hiring one, it continues to reinforce the idea that the proper avenue upon ones death is to hire attorneys to settle the estate, large or small.</p>
<p>You are fortunate to be part of a weathly family who has the luxury of hiring attorneys at $200 an hour because it saves hundreds of thousands of dollars. To this mom and this family, even a 2 hour consulation ($400) is going to be big money. Remember, this mom couldn’t pay for the funeral of her own son. She had to have other family members chip in together to pay to bury her own son. I think that money is tight for her just as it was for her son.</p>
<p>When I read the original thread, I believed the original poster who said the cousin was destitute, which means to me has no money at all. I have many destitute friends and acquitances who have no money, no retirement, no health insurance, and no life insurance. If they were to pass on, the last thing I’d tell the family is to start hiring attorneys. It’d be a hardship for their families and provide no benefit. I would, however, offer to assist them however possible (at no charge of course).</p>
<p>In this case, I know of no value the attorney could provide with settling a simple estate like this one except sending a cease and desist letter to the hospital/bill collector. That can be accomplished by the mother, who does not need to seek an attorney to do that for her. She can do a simple Google search (or her family can) and there are many templates available.</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, many attorneys would provide a free initial consultation (you can ask when you call for the appointment), just to go over some of the issues that are mentioned here, for example asking if there MAY be any assets that might have. Of course, the mom or any other concerned person could help with this. Some folks are comfortable if an attorney is part of the picture & would find the peace of mind worthwhile–if so they could inquire when they call for an appointment to be sure an initial consultation is free.</p>
<p>OP, it would be good to consult with the deceased’s employer to be sure there is no insurance or other asset paid by employer that may apply.</p>
<p>botw, it shouldn’t be necessary, but estate law is a very complex area that most people do not deal with more than once or twice their lives, and people do dumb things and miss obvious steps if they are not advised. I am not a fan of lawyers myself much of the time, but have found the money spent on estate attorneys to be well worth it. And, as others have advised, they are not saying this family should spend a lot of money (or any) money on it. A legal aid attorney can provide some initial advice for free. Stop harping on the price of the attorney… and if someone in your family dies, I hope you have sense enough to spend a little to potentially save a lot of money and hassle. Or better yet, hope the person who passes away spent something to complete their wills ahead of time, thus saving you a lot of headaches.</p>