Question:
Dear Steve,
I am the trustee of my mother’s estate. Because of caregiver expenses, she owes Bank of America $18K and had very little cash. I want to settle with them for less than the full amount but she died in October and I have not heard from them yet.
What should I do? Should I contact Bank of America or wait for them to contact me? I don’t want this to drag on for a year because there are heirs and they are getting antsy.
Thank you!
Maria
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Answer:
Dear Maria,
First off, I’m sorry to hear about the passing of your mother.
If you have not already followed the advice in this article I would suggest you read it and take the steps described.
The most important issue for Bank of America is if your mother’s estate has enough money to satisfy the debt. If not then you have a good reason why they should settle the debt for less than what is owed. I would not wait for Bank of America to contact you. Let’s get this estate closed and dealt with instead of leaving open items.
I do know Bank of America, like many banks, does monitor the Social Security death report. So if your mother’s death was reported to Social Security then Bank of America is already aware. But that is not an excuse to wait to hear from them.
