When your only parent is hospitalized and passes on and they have life insurance. Can the bills be wrote off or are you to pay them off with the insurance money? I mean I know that you can or should pay them. But if someone is the only benificiary are they obligated to be pay if the bills are in your parents name?

Tricky question, I'd go to a lawyer, if you don't want to do that sometimes the funeral home is a good source of information.

My first guess is that they would have to be paid with any estate proceeds first...

If there are no funds from the estate.. I dont believe the next of kin is responsible for them.

That is a good question. I do not know.

I would guess the same, but I would also guess that states differ in their laws regarding this. Best bet would be to ck. w/a lawyer to make sure later down the road it might come back to you.

I believe insurance bypasses the estate. The hospital could collect against any proceeds of the estate. You are not responsible for the bills beyond that, legally.

My dad's will states that the bills would be paid first. Do you have a will? Do you have a lawyer? You may have to probate the will. A lot depends on the state you live in.

If you are the benificiary of the Life Insurance, I don't think you would be liable for any bills that do not get paid from the Estate proceeds. If your father was the benificiary, than I think it's a different story. I think you could get this answer by asking a Life Insurance company.

If you are the benificiary of the Life Insurance, I don't think you would be liable for any bills that do not get paid from the Estate proceeds. If your father was the benificiary, than I think it's a different story. I think you could get this answer by asking a Life Insurance company.

We live in WI, so each place is different. My Father in law passed away and was broke.
He had MANY charge cards that were like $5000 most charges from late fees when he got sick.
They waved the entire cards, they were unsecured loans. We did sell his car and paid his bank off.
we sold all his belongings to pay for his funeral, the dryer sold last and the $250 placed the marker on his grave.
Not much fun, but check in your state.

My nieces attorney, in Illinois, told her that since her mom was on Medicare and died while in the hospital followimng surgery, those bills did not have to be paid. Not the doctor or hospital. It has almost been a year and she has not paid anything or received any bills. That was the first time I had heard anything like that, but it is something to look into if on Medicare.

No...the insurance money is yours...has nothing to do with the estate.

This is only if there is a spouse....the bills would be paid from the spouse or if the insurance was to go to the estate.

generally=that is what the insurance money is for-to wrap up any loose ends-and pay off what ever needs to be paid-not leaving the burdon on a loved one-that is why we get life insurance-so our children will not be left with all of our bills...and to take care of final expenses which can be thousands of dollars.

No my mom didn't have any kind of will or lawyer. She didn't have any kind of money or estate. She lived with my sister (or I should say my sister and her family has lived with her all her life and took care of my mom. Not the my mom needed help of any kind.) My mom hadn't worked in over 15 years. And she collected my dads ss. She didn't work and the only thing that my mom had was the trailer that they live in. Which is nothing fancy and needs some work. Someone told my sister that as long as we didn't want their home she was to transfer the title to her name. Like I said she only has a life insurance and just within the last couple years got that. So I am wondering if the bills need to be paid or will they be wrote off?

The bills will be written off...NO..you do not owe anyone...!!! the insurance money is yours...not the estates.

Are you the only benefiiary of the policy? Unless your name is on the credit cards/debts, you are not personally responsible, only the estate is. If there is not enough money in the estate to pay bills, then the estate is considered insolvent. Don't let anyone tell you differently. Creditors may try and tell that you are so they can get paid. If the parent has a house in his/her name, that is part of the estate.

Whatever your mom owned when she passed is her Estate. You need to find out who the beneficiary of the Life Ins. is. by calling the Life Ins. Company. Did mom take out the life ins. to pay for her funeral & bills owed or was someone else the beneficiary? I agree, that I don't think there will be hospital bills to be paid if she was on Medicare. I had power of attorney for my brother in law & when he passed after brain surgery, I never got a hospital bill.

I think it depends on the state, but the bills are usually paid out of the assets of the person...if there are no assets, then there is nothing to pay the bills from. The life insurance beneficiary owns that money...it doesn't belong to the estate.

my sister is yhe only one on the policy. She had not credit cards or any other thing than just the trailer that they live in. That is the only thing that was in her name.

Yes we know that her funeral is to be paid but not sur of yhe rest of the doc., hosp. bills

Each state has it's own rules for inheritance when someone dies "without a Will". In PA everything goes to the spouce; if no spouce then equally to children. I believe in Indiana everthing is divided between living parents & children. So, you need to look up rules for your state. That's how I learned the rules for IN where my newphew lives. If mom did not have a Will, than you & your sister probably inherited the trailer equally & you can relinquish your share to your sister so that title can go in her name.

Insurance is not part of an estate. It can get tricky, find an estate lawyer if necessary.

If the trailer was in Mom's name and she didn't sign title over to your sister...then that trailer becomes part of an estate and has to go to probate court to be settled...If it was in both their names then 1/2 the trailer goes into Probate ...Probate ct will set a price for the trailer if fully owned by your mother or 1/2 of it if owned with another person then mother's share is considered part of an estate that the Ct establishes and must be used to pay outstanding bills. If your mother signed over title before she died then no problem, no estate...

Ins...as long in your name or a siblings name that is not part of probate...and can be cashed in by submitting the death cert to the Ins co by the person who was left the ins policy...

It's been a while, and I don't know if laws have changed, but when Mom passed in 1995 in Illinois the estate was responsible for any debts. The inheritance we received was after all debts were paid.

LIFE INSURANCE is NOT part of the estate

It is the right thing to do since they are your parents and you have their insurance money, isn't that why they brought the insurance in the first place, to pay off their debts.
IdahoSandy

I went through that when my husband died and I did not have to pay most of the bills

Might be best to ask an estate lawyer in your state. Call the state bar association for a listing for your area.

I think the insurance, depending on how much it is, should pay for the funeral expenses and has nothing to do with the doctor or hospital bills. Most insurances would not be enough to cover hospital expenses. That should come out of the estate if any.

If you are the beneficary of an insurance policy it is yours. You will need to pay her bills out of her money though.

Each state is different, you need to check to see what is legal.

When my mother passed I just had to send her death certificate to the ones she owed and it was all I had to do....

Sending you a PM, I live in Illinois too.

If I were an heir and also he beneficiary of a life insurance policy, to be quite honest, my conscience would bother me, and i would pay the bills off that concerned medical care first. I would not feel any obligation for credit cards, because those large companies are protected through their own insurance policies for loss. Most states do require that bills be paid off first. If the person died intestate, then the state would handle the money, or the attorney you hire to handle the estate. The attorney would be the one that would be able to counsel you concerning the laws of your state.

First of all, my deepest sympathy. My daughter, the lawyer, handled everything for me when her sister died . Every state has guidelines how to "probate estates." First paid is the funeral. If there is any money left-then the bills get paid. Even if you just call a lawyer to get information on the rules in your state,and how to get them you won't be guessing. I assume there was no will. Two years after my daughter's death, I am still getting bills for her. I think that is crazy, where have they been, who lets a bill go over a year before billing for payment! I just send them a letter telling them they are too late, she died over a year ago. Case closed.

When my father passes away, I called J C Penneys to get the total of the balance. I was told I didn't have to pay it. My brother and I were in the will and on the life insurance. We paid all his bills and split what was left. My father would have been very angry if we didn't pay his bills. Even if he didn't have any estate I would ha e tried to pay some part of his bills. That's just me.

According to Susie Orman, when a person dies so does their debts, but if their is a surviving spouse, then it becomes their responsibility.

Wrote one message and lost it so will try again.

If the life insurance is payable to the estate then the bills should be paid from that as it is part of the deceased's estate. If the life insurance is payable to an individual than that individual collects the insurance and the bills do not have to be paid from it. If there is not enough money in the estate itself to pay all the bills, the creditors will have to write off their bills. As for the will stating all the bills should be paid, they are to be paid from the estate and they are not required to be paid by other individuals.

I would check with a lawyer to be sure that your state is like that as different states have different rules, but I think the above is pretty well general. The lawyer shouldn't charge much for answering a few questions for you I wouldn't think and then you will know what the laws are in your state for sure.

Just my two cents worth for the day.

Just saw where you said there was a trailer involved, that is another whole ball of wax depending on whose name it was titled in. If it is in your mother's name even though your sister lived with her, you will need to see an attorney as that trailer will be part of her estate and most likely will have to go thru probate depending on it's value. If it is titled in both their names it will depend on how it is titled, "with right of survivorship" or however as those things at tricky. You can't just transfer the title on it, there are rules and regulations in most states. Consult an attorney at least to get some questions answered. He may be able to file a small estate affidavit and can advise you on the bills as a result of the trailer. Too many "ifs ands and buts" to give general information on a board like this. Life insurance is one thing but the rest is another whole ball of wax.