When you loved ones passed away and their property became yours, assuming you moved in if you weren't already there, did you opt to take the names of the deceased loved one off of various bills and put your name on them while managing their estates, unless your name was already on at least some of them, or did you opt to keep their names on them to avoid any complications?
Me and my mom were talking about our new renters trying to get power, gas, and water turned back on at the rent house now that they agreed to move in. Currently, there is somewhat a complication regarding the electricity being turned back on. She told me that complicated case is why she still has my great-grandfather's name on some of the bills and refuses to take his name off of them. The house we live in was my great-grandparents home and has been in the family for decades.
I told her that it'll eventually fall on me to pay for the various house bills over here. She's telling me "don't borrow trouble," but in reality, it's less of borrowing trouble and more of wanting to be prepared for the bill scenario when the day comes where her bills become my bills. Granted, she told me she plans on taking off my grandmother's name and put my name on her checking accounts once probate is complete and we submit the required paperwork to the banks my grandmother had accounts at. However, she thinks that whoever gets a various payment won't care who is paying for it and that all they want is the money.
I sure hope it works out that way for me. I'm skeptical that, for example, the company that supplies our electricity will accept a check with just my name on it in regard to a bill that has my mom and great-grandfather's name on it.
You do know it's illegal to keep bills in a dead person's name so you continue to use the service. That's fraud. If a landlord does this for a tenant, the landlord is held responsible if the tenants don't pay.
The only reason why your mother's tenants cannot get utilities in their name is lack of payment. They owe money to utility companies. Don't rent to these people because they will also burn you and your mother on the rent. Never allow utilities to be kept in someone else's name if they're dead. That's fraud. Don't do it.
Tell these tenants that they need to settle up with the utility companies they owe or they can't move in.
My mom's name is on the bills, but she doesn't understand the concerns you've brought up.
I guess you can allow grandma to go on like she is. The only problem in having utilities put in your name eventually is if you have never had utilities in your name before. You will have to pay deposits that are returned to you within 2 years once you show you pay your bills monthly.
I really don't see her logic but its logical to her.
I got my driver's license and a U.S. passport without showing utility bills in my name. I lived with my first husband for 13 years (11 of them married) and neither one of us had utilities in our name. We lived in a multiple-family apartment house (all family) and the utilities were in my in-laws' names and we paid them every month.
When I went for my driver's license I brought a copy of my birth certifcate (with the stamp), my social security card, and a bank statement from the bank account with my husband.
The OP has a birth certificate, a SS card, and receives some sort of mail where he lives. That will be enough to get a driver's license.
If you are going to be living in the house you should change the name on the bill.
If you are going to rent the property your name should NOT be on the bill as any missed payments by the renters will reflect on your credit.
At least my mom will have my name on my grandmother's bank accounts once probate is finished and the necessary paperwork can be sent to them.
I wish you good luck with this. Hope you will update us on what works. Don't hurry. It is going to take you a solid year to get things in order. Just keep good files and records and even a diary of every move you make.
It would be up to Blickbob to get the utilities changed over to his name after the mother passes if he inherits her property.