My mil died in 2014 and one of my wifes sisters was executor of the will. Everything went smoothly with sale of modest property and dividing up personal effects etc. They kept the po box for over a year after her passing to clear up all left over medical bills and also her bank acct remained open until nothing was coming in the mail except junk. My sil got a statement from Tricare yesterday with a balance on an ambulance trip for something that happened in 2014. Her net worth was dispursed sometime in 2016 and all accounts closed out. In my humble opinion she should tell them to go suck on a rope but legally I don't know for sure.
- Thread starter merlynr
- Start date
Skyhighballoon(MO)
Member
- Location
- Pilot Grove, MO
I'm sure this varies from state to state but in Missouri and if the estate goes through probate, the executor is supposed to prepare a list of known creditors and the estate attorney sends a legal notice to all the known creditors that they have to submit and valid bills to estate by a certain deadline (a few months) and if they don't they are out of luck. Mike
Butch(OH)
Well-known Member
I have been through this too much the last few years with passing of parents and family. I suppose the laws vary state to state but in Ohio your SIL did it right. You have two avenues, get with a lawyer and have more expenses or throw the bill in the trash and place them on ignore. Either way I think that the end result will be that they are SOL for late billing and not getting in line for payment from the estate when they should have. We had some late comers also, we simply ignored them and they went away.
wjytexas
Well-known Member
As skyhigh says about Missouri, in Texas if the will goes thru probate public notice is made and once the judge signs off, all is settled and the executor can disperse
the estate. I had to have a letter of testamentary from the probate court to change the title on one of my trucks that had her name on it also. Don't know about estates
not probated.
the estate. I had to have a letter of testamentary from the probate court to change the title on one of my trucks that had her name on it also. Don't know about estates
not probated.
Dan in North Houston
Member
As others have said, it depends state to state. The process in WV is that you notify all known creditors, and provide the list of creditors to the county clerk with your statement that you have sent them notice. At a certain point after that, the clerk publishes a notice in the local paper, essentially advising all that if they have a claim, their time is running out. The court has to wait a certain amount of time after the notice, but then if nobody comes forward, they rule the estate closed and notify the executor they can disburse the estate to the heirs. If somebody comes forward then claiming they are owed money, you just tell them that the estate is closed and they are just out of luck.
From your post, it is difficult to tell if it went through probate, so your results may vary.
From your post, it is difficult to tell if it went through probate, so your results may vary.
john *.?-!.* cub owner
Well-known Member
Is the bill actually from TriCare, are from a billing company trying to collect old bills? Many of the billing companies buy up old bills from hospitals etc., and try to collect even ones that were written off since they still show as unpayed.
farmerwithmutt
Well-known Member
Im not sure but i think in Wisconsin there is a notice posted in
a paper three weeks in a row after that i think your clear. On
one of mine we couldn't find a relative and we had to give a
lawyer in his home town some money to say it was ok to disperse
the money. I agree with the thought that someone bought old debt
and seen if they could make money out of it i had that happen a
couple times with medical bills insurance would pay and they
would still send a bill hoping to double there money.
a paper three weeks in a row after that i think your clear. On
one of mine we couldn't find a relative and we had to give a
lawyer in his home town some money to say it was ok to disperse
the money. I agree with the thought that someone bought old debt
and seen if they could make money out of it i had that happen a
couple times with medical bills insurance would pay and they
would still send a bill hoping to double there money.
Was the statement addressed to your sil or your mil? If it was to your mil, ignore it. After the probate has been signed off on by the judge, then it is over; no money left to pay. If it was addressed to your sil, they had to get her address somewhere just after the probate was filed; therefore, they had ample amt of time to file a claim.
Just my $0.02 worth!
Just my $0.02 worth!
gene bender
Well-known Member
Everything was closed so now any claims will not have any rights
Quick visit with the attorney that handled the estate should give you all the answers you need. This is what they are paid for and should expect these kind of late billings on
occasion.
I will venture a guess the attorney will draft a quick letter telling the claimant to go pound sand but that opinion is not based on any first hand knowledge.
jt
occasion.
I will venture a guess the attorney will draft a quick letter telling the claimant to go pound sand but that opinion is not based on any first hand knowledge.
jt
First of I feel others are wrong!!! Very wrong!!! Deal with this head on (yes forward it to your lawyer) Pay for certified letter etc to the company. NOW HERE IS THE PROBLEM if you just "ignore this" they (or collections) can take you to court, put liens on you, damage your credit etc. NOW ALSO THE LAWYER: should know your state laws, yes they very by state. And is this addressed to the deceased or to you??? good luck
Agree with Mike. Don,t contact them. If you do you have now given them an active account. Lawer first and tell them to pound it. Most likely a fishing Expadition. I have seen where a paid bill will pop up years later as unpaid ,and the low life's add three hundred percent charges. Their stupid computer will not take no for an answer..
farmerwithmutt
Well-known Member
I got wondering about this and googled
medical debt after death lots of interesting
stuff. Good topic to bring up apparently
this type of thing is on the rise so it will
happen to others. A comment i read is that
if your not married or consigned a note
there out of luck . also they said send a
certified letter no money that way i think
and again changes by state they can't
contact you again unless by lawyer and then
it gets away from easy money to where they
have to spend money on a lawyer than common
sense would dictate that they would end up
spending more than what they can collect.
Its to bad in this world people are always
looking for easy money just before a good
friend died he told me his home town doctor
called him every day to see how he was and
yes when he passed away there was a bill for
her consultation fees i dont think there
paid . good luck.
medical debt after death lots of interesting
stuff. Good topic to bring up apparently
this type of thing is on the rise so it will
happen to others. A comment i read is that
if your not married or consigned a note
there out of luck . also they said send a
certified letter no money that way i think
and again changes by state they can't
contact you again unless by lawyer and then
it gets away from easy money to where they
have to spend money on a lawyer than common
sense would dictate that they would end up
spending more than what they can collect.
Its to bad in this world people are always
looking for easy money just before a good
friend died he told me his home town doctor
called him every day to see how he was and
yes when he passed away there was a bill for
her consultation fees i dont think there
paid . good luck.
Good grief....just pay the friggin thing and try to split the cost later. How much can it be for an ambulance (my Mother's was $45 one way to hospital about 20 mi away). Once lawyers and other institutions are involved, you are talking thousands to resolve a trivial matter. Who cares when accounts were closed and technically they may been in error for not billing earlier, but a lot of cost and nonsense is created by being "correct" or stubborn. Just the way I would handle it and its done in fifteen minutes.
Find out if everything is closed out and you are no longer responsible. If so tell them your mother has a new address and give them the address of the cemetery. Or tell
them too long of a time has passed and they are out of luck and to improve their billing efficiency so it doesn't happen to them again. There is no reason for a bill to
take that long. I bet they wouldn't wait that long for payment. If you have to pay tell them it will take a year or two to process the payment.
them too long of a time has passed and they are out of luck and to improve their billing efficiency so it doesn't happen to them again. There is no reason for a bill to
take that long. I bet they wouldn't wait that long for payment. If you have to pay tell them it will take a year or two to process the payment.
My son's ambulance ride was over $1400 on a one way trip to Wichita Kansas.
Our babysitter had a 19 year old daughter that pulled out in front of a semi and was killed instantly. Two years later she received a bill from some collection agency that had purchased all the old debts from the county hospital. They got all heated up and threatened her on the phone about what they were going to do to her to make her pay. Eventually they sent her some paperwork with a demand notice. She showed it to me and it was all in her daughter's name. I helped her draft a letter stating that the person that owes the debt no longer lived in the home and gave them her new address - the address of the local cemetery.
Our babysitter had a 19 year old daughter that pulled out in front of a semi and was killed instantly. Two years later she received a bill from some collection agency that had purchased all the old debts from the county hospital. They got all heated up and threatened her on the phone about what they were going to do to her to make her pay. Eventually they sent her some paperwork with a demand notice. She showed it to me and it was all in her daughter's name. I helped her draft a letter stating that the person that owes the debt no longer lived in the home and gave them her new address - the address of the local cemetery.
BarnyardEngineering
Well-known Member
- Location
- Rochester, NY
It's also too bad in this world that people are always looking for a way to get out of paying, to get something for nothing.
Morally and ethically, the ambulance company should be paid for their services, if they can afford to do so. Yet most everyone here is advocating welching on the bill just because it was late.
This is one major reason why medical services cost so much. If everyone paid what they owed, the hospitals wouldn't be trying to get it out of the next guy.
farmerwithmutt
Well-known Member
What if this was covered by insurance? I had
one company try that after it was paid by
insurance and i had the proof they still
sent me the bill. In one other case that i
know of the doc had three ambulances called
before they got one certified to be able to
take the guy. All could have been avoided if
the doc had checked before calling. Im not
afraid of paying bills if i owe them and its
legitimate however this one doesn't sound
right.
one company try that after it was paid by
insurance and i had the proof they still
sent me the bill. In one other case that i
know of the doc had three ambulances called
before they got one certified to be able to
take the guy. All could have been avoided if
the doc had checked before calling. Im not
afraid of paying bills if i owe them and its
legitimate however this one doesn't sound
right.
A bill two or three years after the service makes me think something is not right. A bill within a reasonable time should be paid of course. Would you wait 2-3 years to
submit a bill for a service you performed? I think not. No legitimate bill comes that long after the service.
submit a bill for a service you performed? I think not. No legitimate bill comes that long after the service.
There is a real good chance this bill has been paid already. Usually when something like this pops up out of the blue its been bundled with a lot of other uncollectable debts and sold to a collection agency. Something in the system didn't get checked off correctly when payment was made and the bill was included with others that the hospital spent months (years?) attempting to collect before selling it for pennies on the dollar to the collection agency. The hospital didn't wait 2 years to attempt to collect - they were paid by the insurance a couple months after the services were rendered. But the paperwork went with the other uncollectables.
The collection agency doesn't care who pays they just want some money. We have collection agencies call us all the time wanting to know if we have some "old accounts" we would like to sell. And we occasionally have collection agencies call us looking to collect on a "past due" that was actually a negotiated settlement when a supplier or sub failed to perform. Instead of writing down our receivable to the agreed amount it was carried on the books as uncollected and eventually sold to collections. Then I have to dig into 3-4 year old files and show them that the company was paid an agreed upon amount and the receivable is worthless. Even with that I'll get a "How much will you pay to make this go away" shot even when they know there is nothing to collect.
Dan in North Houston
Member
Having been through this in settling the estates of family members, there has to be a limit somewhere. What you are suggesting is that either the executor should stand ready to pay all bills that come in late out of his own pocket and then try to collect from the heirs, or keep the estate open for an extra couple of years, keep paying lawyers and fees just on the chance that somebody might send in a late bill - and in the meantime, keep the assets tied up and not distributed to the heirs. I realize mistakes are made, but a business needs to get invoices out in a timely manner. Particularly ambulance services, who have to deal with situations where the customer may not be alive long after their service has been provided.
The probate process and public notice to potential claimants provides a fair and reasonable way for people to get their claims in. Part of the job duties for somebody at the ambulance service is to read those notices in the newspapers in their service area to see if anyone who died owes them money.
When I recently probated the estate of my grandmother, all of her affairs were in order, there were no outstanding bills and the funeral was pre-paid. Yet even with a very simple and straightforward situation, it still took over a year to settle the estate. A big chunk of that time was allowing for time for bills to come in, then publishing the public notices, then waiting to see if any more bills came in.
The probate process and public notice to potential claimants provides a fair and reasonable way for people to get their claims in. Part of the job duties for somebody at the ambulance service is to read those notices in the newspapers in their service area to see if anyone who died owes them money.
When I recently probated the estate of my grandmother, all of her affairs were in order, there were no outstanding bills and the funeral was pre-paid. Yet even with a very simple and straightforward situation, it still took over a year to settle the estate. A big chunk of that time was allowing for time for bills to come in, then publishing the public notices, then waiting to see if any more bills came in.
farmer boy
Well-known Member
Can't be hurting too bad. They waited 2 years to send a bill out.
If it was probated tough to be them,if not, just pay the bill. It has been in the local paper lately how some ambulance districts were doing a really bad job sending out their bills, and then not having enough money to run the ambulances. BTW, 15 mile air ambulance ride was $3600.00 ground runs about $350.00 Check her insurance plan,they might, or have already been paid.
steve_in_mo
Well-known Member
You have a difficult situation, but it is relatively common after a business closes or someone dies.
The bill might be legitimate but is more likely bogus. A consultation with an attorney who has health
care experience would be a lot better bet than taking advice from a bunch of us cranky old guys from
this site.
The bill might be legitimate but is more likely bogus. A consultation with an attorney who has health
care experience would be a lot better bet than taking advice from a bunch of us cranky old guys from
this site.
jimg.allentown
Well-known Member
My gut feeling would be to say "sorry, you're too late to the party. Everybody left." I suppose it might also have something to do with the size of the bill and what is left in the estate to settle it.
IF the estate is already completely liquidated, there may be nothing left to pay with.
While I am not a fan of welching on a bill, there is the issue of who is responsible for that bill. If it is the deceased, and there is nothing left in the estate, then nobody alive is responsible for the bill. If some of the heirs have some of the estate money left, it would be a fair thing to pony up and pay it off. Tough question.
IF the estate is already completely liquidated, there may be nothing left to pay with.
While I am not a fan of welching on a bill, there is the issue of who is responsible for that bill. If it is the deceased, and there is nothing left in the estate, then nobody alive is responsible for the bill. If some of the heirs have some of the estate money left, it would be a fair thing to pony up and pay it off. Tough question.
Hobo,NC
Well-known Member
- Location
- Sanford, NC
Its not anyone's bill but her's Worst case they can take it up with her the next time they see her that's life and the way it works. They may put a lean again her estate so be it that can be worked around also.
1948CaseVAI
Well-known Member
It would be helpful to know the amount because as someone said you could just pay the thing. But to those who think it is a minor bill, a basic ride to the hospital in Sedgwick County Kansas is over $800. If they use any skills or supplies it goes higher fast.
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