<p>^^Good point. Regardless, sounds as if she needs a new one…</p>
<p>He might not have had an accountant if he stoppef filing taxes. Many CPAs would drop a client who woldnt file or pay.</p>
<p>KayF, sorry if I missed the innocent spouse rule until the attorney I spoke with mentioned it. It is really a lot of bad news to deal with all at once, for her and for me. I feel for her–she is a very good person.</p>
<p>HER accountant wasn’t very helpful. Have no idea if HE had an accountant. I do hope she might find a better accountant but don’t want to overwhelm her–already told her didn’t understand why she was retaining an attorney. Will ask her about collateral for the loan(s). Also asked her about whether the accountant ever even MENTIONED the innocent spouse rule and she hadn’t ever heard of it. 
</p>
<p>The loan she just mentioned was Salliemae, education loan signed by her H; she did NOT co-sign. Not sure if he also paid on behalf of someone to attend school and whether she might (or might not) want to try to recover any of those sums.</p>
<p>I think she really needs to speak to a lawyer regarding the settling of ALL bills related to her late husband. It is very possible that these should be settled as part of settling his estate, whatever that is. I know that once my
Mom died, all bills were paid by her estate and a special account was set up to do so. </p>
<p>Before this friend does anything else, she needs to find out for sure what her liabilities are…or not.</p>
<p>Yes, hopefully, she can get some good, free advice from the law school’s elder law clinic. I agree that she needs to clarify HER assets and HER debts, as well as those that might be discharged or otherwise resolved due to her late husband’s death.</p>
<p>I had to re read some of this thread. This husband died less than a month ago. There seems to be some kind of “rush” to settle all of these issues. If nothing else, please urge your friend to SLOW DOWN. Sometimes it takes well over a year to settle the affairs of someone who dies. She should not be making any hasty decisions.</p>
<p>I agree, but I believe she had paid off the IRS prior to his death or at least had started the process. She took out a loan to pay it off.</p>
<p>Yes, but she has also paid medical bills. She just needs to take a breath and not RUSH this process.</p>
<p>Hi, I was just joking, but she does have to slow down</p>
<p>Yes, she paid the medical bills. I was surprised she had finished paying them as they were only incurred in October and/or November. The IRS was paid off in a loan a few years back. She did NOT seek my advice about getting the loan to pay off the IRS but got advice from some friend or another rather than an attorney or GOOD accountant.</p>
<p>I do want her to talk with SS to find out where she stands with them. She is VERY concerned about incurring more debt via her rented home, which is honestly more than she can easily afford at her current reduced income. I feel like she’s feeling overwhelmed and getting advice from other widows (& others) who are well-meaning but don’t understand her current circumstances. They are also not experts and not really qualified to give her advice. I have also encouraged her to talk with her HR folks and find out her retirement options as well. She is NOT used to conserving assets and not doing it very well.</p>
<p>Got a form letter from a friend for her to modify & send to ALL the banking and other institutions where he MAY have stashed any assets he may have. We can only HOPE that something turns up. Can’t figure out where the $150K disappeared to; even though that won’t solve her long term problems, it would definitely help cushion the current state of affairs a bit.</p>