Father Passed Away and We Learned He Owed Money

Hi!

My father in law owes money to a number of casinos in Atlantic City – he lived in NY. All the debt was accrued between 2003 and probably 2009. He refused to pay them back, I don't know why. Even more extreme is that, to prevent them from taking money from him, he took his name off of pretty much everything. Banks, most of their credit cards, even the cell phone bill was all put into his wife's name or had his name simply removed. He was 'off the grid' financially. His only income was social security, which the lawyers could not touch.

He passed away a few weeks ago, at the age of seventy. He had no investment accounts and no vehicles in his name so he never felt he need a will.

A few months ago, while he was in the hospital before he passed, he received a letter from the lawyers of one of the casino's. The letter states that the casino obtained a judgment which is valid twenty years and will accrue interest at nine percent.

Yesterday he received a letter from the only credit card in his name, which has a zero balance. The gist of that letter is that they were subpoenaed to give all his information to the lawyers trying to get money on behalf of a casino. That letter said he had until June 14th to respond.

Obviously we haven't yet told the lawyers trying to collect that he passed away. Mostly that is because of our biggest concern, which is that the lawyers will find a way to burden my mother in law with his debt.

So.

Does my mother in law have any worries? Can they force her to sell "his" possessions to pay the debts? Do the casino's lawyers have any grounds against the widow, or are they simply out of luck, case closed, since he passed away?

Thanks for any advice or information!

Was your mother-in-law married at the time of his passing?

The administrator of the estate should provide notice to all of your father-in-law's creditors that the estate has been opened, then let them make claims against the estate. If they don't make timely claims, the administrator may proceed to wrap up the estate. If they do, then the administrator will have to assess the validity of the claims and apply available, non-exempt assets of the estate to pay the debts. How hard the casinos will work to get the money will depend upon how much is owed, how much your father's assets (including those he fraudulently conveyed) are worth, and the anticipated cost of collection. Note that the fraudulent conveyances could potentially subject assets that would otherwise have been fully or partially exempt from a creditor's claim to being claimed in full by the creditors.

As it sounds like substantial sums are involved and that your father-in-law engaged in numerous fraudulent conveyances, the administrator of the estate would be well-served to get help from a probate lawyer.

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Quoting Mr. Knowitall

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The administrator of the estate should provide notice to all of your father-in-law's creditors that the estate has been opened, then let them make claims against the estate.

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Thanks for the reply.

What estate though? There's no bank accounts, no investments, no owned vehicles. The only things he owned were within the proverbial four walls of their rented house.

Administrator? There isn't one. It's just his widow, my mother-in-law, holding the bag.

It had been my understanding that a probate lawyer is needed when there is an estate and the family, or willed beneficiaries, want to get the finances that were in the deceased's name only.

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Quoting Mr. Knowitall

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As it sounds like substantial sums are involved

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We don't yet know all parties involved, but at this point we're guessing it's less than fifty thousand dollars.

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Quoting Mr. Knowitall

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your father-in-law engaged in numerous fraudulent conveyances

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"fraudulent conveyances" is a new term for me. Wikipedia says "is an attempt to avoid debt by transferring money to another person or company."

If that's so, and if taken at face value, then there were no fraudulent conveyances. Of the few bank accounts that were in both of their names, he took his name off. There were never any investment accounts, no stocks, bonds, ira's, 401k's, that were in his name alone. They didn't have any of them together either. They only kept enough money in a checking account to pay the bills. He was a cash and carry kind of guy.

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What estate though?

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The one that needs to be opened through the Probate court to get his assets (if any) and debts sorted out. You don't have to own real property to have an estate opened through Probate. You can read a good overview here.

Please do help your MIL out and contact a Probate attorney. As Mr. K notes, putting everything in her name to avoid paying the debts is fraudulent conveyance, and she is going to need competent counsel to help her navigate this mess that your Dad left her in.

everybody has an estate. It may have a positive financial net worth or a negative worth but basically, all of the decedents assets and liabilities cumulative is their estate.

don't get freaked over the term. In does not mean anything other than it is a term used to refer to his assets and liabilities.




a probate lawyer is not actually required in most situations. It is due to any possible person involved not being able to or willing to do it on their own.

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but also do not forget about the fraudulent conveyance issue either.

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and due to that issue, it might be in your mother's best interest to at least consult with an attorney



the administrator of the estate is whomever the courts accept as the person with the authority to handle the affairs of the estate.

The only issue with sitting down with a probate lawyer/attorney is that we don't know any, and at the moment, don't know how to find a qualified one...

have you tried this:


http://www.yellowpages.com/new-york-ny



you can contact the state bar for a referral.

The State Bar of NY offers an attorney referral service. Your local (city) Bar Association may, as well, or you can search Martindale.

Contrary to what we are shown on TV, you need not already be acquainted with an attorney to retain the services of one. It really is as simple as looking up the name of an attorney in the desired field, calling 'em up, and making an appointment for a consultation. Most attorneys of my acquaintance are good and personable folks, and they really do want to help.

My wife had a question I couldn't answer. If he never had investment accounts, and their only checking account seemed to float at about four thousand dollars, the only thing that seems to be remaining is physical possessions. She says, "what are they going to do, go into my mom's house and take inventory? Even if they *did* do that, who is to say what is "hers," what is "his," and what is "theirs"?

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Quoting jk

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have you tried this:
http://www.yellowpages.com/new-york-ny
you can contact the state bar for a referral.

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Well, sure, I can do that, or Google, but just because they've passed the BAR doesn't necessarily mean we want to work with him/her. Word of mouth has always been the best advertising. Call me old fashioned but I'd rather work with someone, in any field, that someone I know has had successful professional interactions with.