Who is responsible to pay credit card bill when incapacitated?

The credit card company will try to collect, they will work out a payment plan, they will continue to charge interest. If you do not set up a payment plan or if you miss payments after a plan, they will commence collection efforts, calls, letters, credit report, etc.. If they "write it off" they do not forgive the debt, they merely remove it from their books and sell the debt to a collections agency.
There are only 2 ways out of this, pay, or, if the rest of the financial situation is severe enough file bankruptcy.
Make sure you do not use the card. Even if it is not in your name the act of using it may incur you a liability.
Even when your parents pass away the company has a legitimate claim for payment.
Nowhere in the credit card agreement (contract) is there a hardship clause. A balance is not forgiven whether you are incapacitated, unemployed, have sick children, etc..

I worked collections or a credit card company, while attending college I was the persons who called past due accounts (don't hate me) Back then, we referred people to a group I believe wad associated with the United Way. CCCS, Consumer Credit Counseling Service. I believe they still exist. They would work out payment plans for all your debtors. You may want to check them out, I am sure they have a web site these days.

Good luck,
L

Hi there, our situation may be a tad different than yours, but this is what we are doing. My father passed away last July, and my mother came to live with my husband and myself last September (hard to believe we are at the 1 year mark). My father had my mother paying the mortgage payment with credit cards (he was in and out of the hospital and thought they might need their cash for medical bills)...we had no idea this was going on. Here it is over a year later and we are still trying to sort out the mess. (This was hard because they weren't really good with paperwork, which we learned when we cleaned out their home to sell..what a mess). Luckily, they had some very old accounts..some were in my dad's name only. We did consult an attorney, and luckily my mother isn't responsible for anything in his name only. Be sure to find out if those cards have an authorized user on them or are a "joint account" with someone else. I was able to send in the death certificate for dad's accounts and received a statement back with a balance of 0.00...anyway, back to what my mom owed. I took over power of attorney, and took care of the cards that were clearly in her name only. (About 6,000). I made sure they were paid in full. All her accounts have been closed...she is upset about this, but I've told her on numerous occasions that she doesn't need them anymore. Our problem has been with Capital One...somehow, they managed to have, what we think, are 4 separate accounts with them. I've contacted them saying that we need a list of accounts, how they were set up as far as a joint account, authorized user, etc. The first letter we received was thanking me for contacting them, and that they needed a copy of dad's death certificate and my Power of Attorney paperwork. I sent that in, and about 3 months later I received a letter acknowledging that I have Power of Attorney and that they can go through me. I sent them another letter back..they requested information like mom's date of birth, recent contact info, etc. I've sent that back and am still waiting..so it will take time. You can't ignore the debt but you will have to be patient if you are looking for them to settle for a smaller amount, which is what we are doing. (We think she may owe around another 14,000)..We are all still floored that she allowed this to happen..but she claimed that is what dad wanted. Of course I have asked her, "Why?" ... I just get the, "That is what he wanted to do". I'm an only child, and when I use the pronoun, "We", I'm referring to my two daughters, their husbands and my husband. I would have went completely out of my mind if it wasn't for all of them. They were all a big help through my dad's funeral, the sale and cleanup of mom's house, and with moving her in with me. The paperwork is a nightmare all its own.
You can't ignore the bills..you can contact the creditors and see if they will work with you. If she passes away, her estate will have to pay the remainder of what she owes. If there is no estate then they will write it off. You aren't responsible for what is in her name only. I'm in central Florida and I realize that laws are different everywhere. If you don't have the money for an attorney, I would call the credit card company first and see if they will help you. It may buy you some time. Capital One has put a "stay" on mom's accounts while they are investigating my request. I'll let you know what happens. Keep us all posted. I'm sure this is a big concern for many people. Adult children are finding that their parents have debt.
Good Luck!!!!

Pay your debts, period.

If there are nursing bills, and you or others signed the contract personally, then you will be liable for those debts as well. "Don't pay it" is silly and irresponsible and will reflect on the credit of whoever signs those contracts.

If you have been charging care to moms credit card, then mom is still liable. If she can't pay and they find you or sibs have been using the card -- that's still illegal to use her card if you are not a co-owner on the card.

Follow Ismaili advice and work out a payment. Cut the card up right now and any other credit cards of moms. Find out who has POA for finances and get the finances and bills under control making sure all and future will be up to date and properly managed.

Usa - so really it sounds like something major happened and the mom who existed got the rug pulled out from under her and now is totally dependent, correct?And you are trying to tie up loose ends in mom's life?

LsMiami - has good advice. If mom has money, then she should try to pay on her debts. Whomever is her DPOA, can sign the monthly check for her to pay the CC or whatever. I bet Sissy who did all this, just got worn out from everything "mom"

But I bet the situation is that now mom just really doesn't now have any extra money to pay for anything other than her medical costs. And with her brain injury
these costs change & increase every month. If that is the case, continuing to pay on the CC or other debt like that is throwing money away & you need every penny to pay for her care. I wouldn't pay another dime. If mom has no assets (no house), then there is nothing the CC company can do as CC is an unsecured debt. Now the CC & then later the debt collection companies will be relentless in calling & writing mom and whomever they can (that means you) to get it paid. So try not to let anyone get your phone #'s and do everything in writing as your mom (assuming you have DPOA). They don't care if mom had a major accident or a brain tumor, they just want someone to agree to a payment plan so they can get their $ or a % of the recovery. They will be relentless in calling you. DO NOT AGREE TO ANYTHING VERBALLY. If they call you just say...this is not Mary Jane Jones and hang up. Also keep in mind that SS and most retirements are totally protected from being garnished or seized too. The only thing that can garnish SS income money is the IRS. If they tell you otherwise, it is just bluster.

Maybe lsmiami can shed some light on the CC collection techniques??

Oh also the CC company (the actual bank not the debt collector) when they write off the debt evenutally can send mom a 1099-C Cancellation of Debt. This is considered income by the IRS. Now the totally sticky part of 1099-C is that:
- they do not have to be issued for the year you stopped paying on the CC
&
- the amount written off is considered TAXABLE income by the IRS. The amount can be more than the CC balance the last time paid too (fees, late charges, etc).So if mom is getting Medicaid or any other program that is needs-based (that she has to be really poor to qualify for), the 1099-C could give her too much "income" to qualify. The fact that the $$ the CC company wrote off is not real income but "phantom income" doesn't matter, it is still taxable. (1099-C get sent to homeowners who do a foreclosure and those amounts are big as they are for the whole balance of the mortgage they walked away from plus all the foreclosure legal fees...yikes!). If mom get's a 1099-C (it would be issued in January and has to be delivered by Feb), do a post and I'll tell you what we had to do with our on Medicaid elder's 1099-C. Good luck.

Someone commented that dying doesn't forgive debt?! LOL So all of us who have cared for our loved ones should continue to pay their loved ones bills after they pass away? Ha!

My dad was in a NH and was on hospice and I stopped worrying about his bills. I called all the creditors, explained that my dad was dying, and I wanted to let them know. My name was on none of my dad's debts. Yup, that's right. I stopped paying his bills because he didn't need a good credit rating anymore. In a perfect world he would have left us a lot of money to cover all of his debts but as it was he had exactly $1,080 in his account when he died. Just enough to cover his cremation and a small reception at a local restaurant.

I didn't lose a wink of sleep over it.

If this is her card and you are not listed on it, it is her debt. You either can pay it yourself or negotiate the debt with the credit card company. People have had to negotiated debt a lot in the present economy. As others have said, cut it up and close the account if you can.

Also, I like the comment from someone about being responsible for the nursing home debt as well. Make sure in no way or fashion any of you are responsible for that. This should be all her debt unless you choose to pay it.

You and your family are not responsible for the debt, PERIOD. Do research on what assets of her's are protected. See if she is judgement proof. If she is disabled, many times they will not bother to sue. Do your own research on this. DO NOT let anyone play on your emotions are try and tell you, you or your mother have a moral obligation to pay the debt. That debt is a business contract, not a moral obligation.

Listen to igloo572. I went through this with my mother's credit card debts. She only had a mobile home, which was protected with a homestead exemption. Her only income was Social Security and her pension. Both were protected by law. I finally told the credit card companies to go ahead and take her to court, get your judgement, she's 88 and has dementia....you'll get nothing. Soon after they stopped calling and I never heard from them again. They tried to make me feel guilty, for not paying the debt. I told them, it wasn't my debt, I don't care, you cannot sue me. They stopped doing that very quickly.

I think I can understand how it is still being used. My father does not understand his "junk mail" and sometimes makes phone calls, or answered the phone when solicitors called (they are on a do not call list, but...) Mom can normally head this off. but sometimes the phone callers are not able to tell he is confused. He got an offer for a "tablet" recently.. did not understand it was a mini computer.. they have no computer or internet! He thought it was a pill they needed!

If you don't continue the payments, or work out something with the credit card company, they will put a lien on any of your Mom's assets. They cannot garnish social security money in the original deposit account, but if moved to a savings account they can access it. They can garnish tax refunds, including homestead property tax refunds and also get any money after mortgages from a home sale. Don't just ignore it, work something out or pay on it from your mom's assets. We're going through hassles with this on a card my dad and step-mom let go. Didn't even know the liens were out there until starting on the process to sell Dad's home.