Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Missouri

Re: deceased husband's credit card bill

You are not personally liable for the payment of your deceased husband's credit card debt simply because you were married to him. The creditor could have filed a claim against his estate or even opened an estate and made their claim within one year from his date of death, or the filing of his will. You should write the creditor, the collection agency and the law firm a letter advising them that he died without any assets, that you are not responsible for his debts, that therefore this is a disputed account, and that you insist upon a copy of your letter being included in your file at every credit bureau which has been notified of this matter. You do not want this to reflect adversely upon your credit. State in the letter that you want written acknowledgement of their receipt of your letter, and be sure to keep a file with copies of everything. You may also consider attempting to recover the money you paid on the debt as a result of being dunned by the creditor or collection agency. Good luck.

Re: deceased husband's credit card bill

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act gives you absolute protection from the creditors. The Fair Credit Reporting Act should prevent this from being reported on your credit. Missouri Probate Law fixes a time of one year from the date of death for an heir (or interested party) to open up an estate for the payment of debts arising out of a deceased person's activities. If the death occurred in 2002, then the year has passed and the claims are barred.

A certified letter to the attorney, collection agency, and credit card company are in order. Any amount you paid to them in error is probably due you as a refund. You have a right to bring an action in Small Claims Court to recover those funds (assuming they were less than $3000.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.