Hello all. Grandpa passed last week. Starting to help my grandmother take the next steps in continuing a life on her own. We will be consulting with a lawyer, but just coming here for people’s personal experiences. We’ve started notifying everyone that we need to. The unfortunate thing is that my grandparents have no will. No any kind of planning paperwork. Just curious if you all have dealt with any of this.
1.) Grandpa was financing a vehicle. It was only in his name. Grandma didn’t co-sign at all. She can’t drive nor does she have any use for a car. Let alone a car with payment still. Curious is anyone knows what happens with that being it was only in his name and there is no will. We haven’t contacted them yet and we will be speaking with an attorney just curious if you all have any experience.
2.) Cancelled all his credit cards today. Apparently that debt goes with him in a way. Or to the estate they said I guess.
3.) How about utilities? They were all in his name. Will they all just switch to my grandma now or does a whole new utility account need opened.
Not really sure if I even need the answers or advice. Just looking to vent. Rant. Idk. Just looking to get this stuff over with. I feel like I haven’t even had a chance to grieve the loss of my grandfather because I’ve been so tangled in figuring all this out. It’s very stressful, lonely and depressing. Ugh.
I never bothered to change the name on the utilities for the house after my dad died, but you can if you want. The utilities just care that they get paid, not as much who pays them. My parents hadn't lived in their house for almost four years when we finally cancelled the accounts and sold it, and the utilities didn't care. Do change the homeowner's insurance policy to Grandma's name regardless. If she had a claim and the policy was in Dad's name only, they'd deny it in a heartbeat.
Would Grandma have had use of the credit cards? Were they in both their names or just his? If they were, you shouldn't have cancelled them. If Grandma has no credit of her own she may have a tough time getting it now.
Personally, I would pay off the credit cards (and you must pay them if they were joint cards), because it's the right thing to do. Grandpa's debts are not a Get Out of Jail Free card just because he died.
What's grandma's financial situation? If he died without a will i dont know how credit cards are handled when they are only in one spouses name. A Google search would tell you.
In my opinion the credit card companies can go pound sand. They make plenty off the transaction fees they charge to the retailers so it's not like they are completely SOL.
https://www.bankrate.com/personal-finance/debt/debt-responsibility-after-spouse-death/