Deceased mum’s cc debt

Kitty42frew

My mum suffered a stroke and was in hospital then a Care home for a year until she died in October. I had Power of Attorney and dealt with her finances when she was unwell.

I found out When she became unwell thatshe had quite substantial credit card debt. I wrote to all of the cards. Some wrote the debt off, the rest agreed to freeze the interest and agreed set monthly payments. I managed to clear about two thirds of the debt prior to her death.

Less than a week after she died I got a phone call from the final credit card company who she had three cards with saying they agreed to write off what she owed them. I was all over the place, and not really thinking straight as I’d just lost my mum, so didn’t tell them that she’d died. They followed up the phone call with a letter to confirm that the debt was being written off. As this letter was written after her date of death, what would happen if they found out she died just before. How likely is it that they will find this out?

Thank you

Ben8282

I'm sorry to hear about the death of your mum.
I think you have been very lucky.
Perhaps the best way to approach this is to assume that the decision to write off the debt was made prior to her death. So long as you were never asked to inform them of her death, then I think you should be OK.

Ergates

If your Mum had significant debt and was in a care home for a year, is it reasonable to assume she didn't have much of an estate?

If so, they'd not have much to gain from pursuing the matter further anyway. If they're "bothered" about you not telling them - then the reason you gave above is a pretty good one "Sorry, but my mother had just died and I wasn't thinking straight"

Retired_Mortgage_Adviser

Sorry for your loss.

Don't worry, nothing will happen. You were in a difficult place and it's not always easy to think straight at the time.

phillw

Kitty42frew wrote: »

As this letter was written after her date of death, what would happen if they found out she died just before. How likely is it that they will find this out?

If the executor (is that you?) files a Deceased Estates Notice (which depending on your circumstances you may want to do) then it's possible they may be looking for those.

https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/dealing-with-the-debts-of-someone-who-has-died
You aren’t under a legal obligation to place a Deceased Estates Notice, but if you fail to do so, you could put yourself at risk. This is because if you distribute the Estate and a creditor then comes forward, you could be found personally responsible. You might therefore have to pay the debt from you own pocket.

If there is no money, you're the executor and the sole beneficiary of the will or you absolutely and really know there is zero chance of anyone turning up requiring repayment then you little to lose by just keeping quiet. What you don't want to do is give any money away and leave yourself in a position where you are then liable.

If you're really worried about "getting caught out" then just write to them (or get whoever the executor is to write them) informing them of her death with a copy of the death certificate. If that triggers an internal decision to reverse their decision, then you could complain to the ombudsman & they might have more sympathy than if you keep quiet and wait to be discovered.

sourcrates

Just to add, you cannot just suddenly "resurrect" a written off debt, if a debt is written off, its written off, it no longer exists, the creditor claims its tax back on the loss, so it cannot ever come back.
It makes no difference whatsoever to the decision they made, no one will be looking to trip you up, they have neither the time nor the interest to do so, and why would they anyway ?

Tough times for you i know, but try not to overthing things, as creditors don`t work like that, draw a line under it, and forget about it.

Kitty42frew

Thank you very much. Very reassuring responses.

chattychappy

sourcrates wrote: »

Just to add, you cannot just suddenly "resurrect" a written off debt, if a debt is written off, its written off, it no longer exists, the creditor claims its tax back on the loss, so it cannot ever come back.

Companies often write debts off. Yes they get bad debt relief as it is now a loss on the books. That alone doesn't mean the debt is no longer owed. My own company wrote a debt off and then recently recovered it from a guy who disappeared and then reappeared. It simply goes on the books as "bad debt become good" and you pay the tax (again).

That is the tax treatment which is separate from dealing with the borrower.

If a consumer lender tells a borrower they will no longer chase a debt then normally it's gone forever - it would be "unfair" to later chase the debt later. This wouldn't be the case if, for example, you lied in order to get them to cancel it, perhaps by misrepresenting your state of affairs. Note also that outside of consumer lending, it is more difficult to stop somebody coming after an old debt until after limitation (usually 6 years), even if they promised they wouldn't. To be certain they can't chase you, there needs to be some sort of "new" consideration, perhaps from a third party or an agreement under deed.

But I agree with your conclusion. Based on what the OP has said, she has done nothing wrong and doesn't need to worry - particularly if there aren't enough assets to pay the debt anyway.