Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Missouri
POD beneficiaries
In the State of MO, once a checking account is closed & any monies are distributed to the POD, does the POD have any responsibility to pay any outstanding debts of the deceased from those funds? There were no statements of debts given to the POD prior to the proper forms being presented to the bank & the funds being distributed (account closed). The deceased's attorney is now trying to say the POD ''might'' have to pay back any funds to cover outstanding bills for nursing home & other care given prior to their death. The attorney said the service providers ''could'' ask the court to open a probate case to collect. There was no probate case otherwise. Wouldn't most providers right-off these debts when there is no other responsible party otherwise? We're talking less than $2200 in total debts.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: POD beneficiaries
Basede upon the facts you described, your attorney was wise to advise you o fht epossibility of the care provider(s) attempting to collect for outstanding debts. You are bright to see that many such creditors choose not to do so, where the bill is small.
Good Luck
Re: POD beneficiaries
I believe that under the "p.o.d." the person named owned the money in the bank account the moment the owner died. Therefore, that person has absolutely no repsonsibility to pay any of the deceases person's bills, and the creditors cannot recover that money through the probate court unless there was some type of fraudulent transfer involved.
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