[ntrtainme]

Hello all. Recently my sister in law came across the following situation...

She's married to John Smith (obviously not his real name) and his mother's name is Mary Smith. When my sis in law was married she became Melody Smith. At some point about 2-3 years ago, Melody acquired a credit card that came under the name M Smith.

The credit card was used for years with no problems as it was paid with no problems. However, after splitting up, the M Smith credit card was no longer paid and debt ensued. Apparently the card was for the mother and not my sis in law. In either case, she did not know. My sis in law is more than willing to pay for the charges however the mother in law is in gripes because my sis in law left her son and wants to pursue charges.

Argumentatively, the mom in law claims she did not authorize a credit card in her name and knew nothing of it. At the same time, her son (my sis in law's ex) used the card too. So if fraud were pursued they'd both be charged.

At any point, my sis in law wants to pay the bill because 1) its the right thing. Secondly the card was issued to M Smith to my sis in law's address not the mother in law. What are the legal repercussions for my sis in law?

Thanks in advance

[aaron]

How did she come to have the credit card? If she applied for the credit card using her own address but her mother-in-law's name and Social Security Number, and requested that the card be issued under the initial so that she could use it without question, she would have some explaining to do. Were the bills issued to "M. Smith" or to "Mary Smith"?

[ntrtainme]

Apparently the card was applied for online and the forms were filled out with one of those annoying autofill forms. The bill was going to M Smith.

[aaron]

It seems to be a bit of a stretch that her mother-in-law's name and Social Security number, along with the request that the card be issued under "M. Smith", resulted from an "auto-fill form", but her address did not. How did that information get into the computer in the first place?

Were the bills issued to "M. Smith" or to "Mary Smith"?

[ntrtainme]

From what I understand the computer was a shared machine so I'm under the assumption the mother perhaps filled out something and perhaps the browser stored that information only to be autofilled in later. I'm not an expert on how computers store that information so I really don't know. I've asked my sis in law and she has no reason to lie to me (I would trust her with my life and that of my kids) and she doesn't recall ever filling out anything in her mother in law's name. Question again is, what can be done being my sis in law caught the error and wants to have this paid and done with

[aaron]

She would likely benefit from paying off the balance and closing the account. Once those steps are taken, as more and more time passes, the less likely it is that the police or a prosecutor would be interested in pursuing the matter.