Am I Obligated to Pay My Deceased Parent’s Medical Debts?

Being responsible for your parent’s medical debt plus your medical expenses is a genuine worry for many Americans. A recent article from U.S. News & World Report starts with an unsettling title: “This Is Why You Might Be Responsible For Paying Your Parents’ Medical Debts.” At least half of all states currently have “filial responsibility laws,” enacted to give adult children the responsibility to support parents who can’t provide for themselves.

Filial Responsibility is Dependent upon State Statute

The reality is more nuanced than the headline. Technically, you could be required to pay for some of your parents’ essential needs if they cannot but it may depend on the state you live in and the contract involved. In Nevada, a law states that if there’s a written agreement to provide care, the child has control over and access to the parent’s assets or income, and the child can financially support the parents, the child is responsible.

In most cases, certain triggering events must occur before the children need to pay their bills. For one, the parent must be found to be indigent. If parents receive nursing home care and cannot afford to pay for care until they qualify for Medicaid, the facility could sue the children.

Enforcement, however, rarely occurs. In Pennsylvania, one of the only states that is known for enforcing filial responsibility, a statute was recently proposed to prevent having family members support impoverished family members, including a person’s “child, spouse and parents.”

If you live in Missouri or Illinois, while a spouse may be held responsible for the other spouse’s medical bills, there is no similar law making children responsible.

Debt Collectors May Call you Regardless of the Rules

However, there’s more to the story. Adult children might get phone calls and letters from debt collectors if medical bills are unpaid. If a healthcare provider doesn’t receive payment and sells the debt to a third-party collection agency, the collection agency then owns the debt. It may turn to any viable source—typically, an adult child.

What can you do? Unless you co-signed or agreed to be a guarantor on bills for your parents, you are not liable for the debt. The collection agency will hope you don’t know this and press for payment. They may not be polite about it either. They cannot sue you or add the debt to your credit reports by law. They can be very aggressive. However, you have the law on your side. You don’t have to pay if you’re not legally responsible for the bill.

You’re also protected by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), which gives you the right not to talk with third-party debt collectors. Once you tell the person it’s not your debt and to stop contacting you, they are bound by the FDCPA to stop contacting you.

How to Avoid Being Responsible for a Deceased Parent’s Debt

There are steps to prevent any accidental mingling of funds with parents. For starters, don’t co-sign debts, including loans, mortgages and credit cards. Read nursing home contracts thoroughly; some contracts may attempt to sign you up as a responsible party. Don’t sign anything you don’t understand—ask your estate planning attorney to review the contract first.

Plan by ensuring that your parents have wills, trusts and powers of attorney with medical directives. Talk with them about insurance policies and find out if they have created trusts to protect their assets. If they are relatively healthy, see if they are eligible for long-term care insurance.

Put a plan in place for the inevitabilities that occur in life. They may be spry today. However, aging is not always a kind or easy process. If it’s likely they will need your help, and you’re able to do so, build in some emergency funds for their needs. If parents have not put any estate planning into place, including planning for long-term care, talk with an experienced estate planning attorney about how to help them get started.

Creditors of a Deceased Parent’s Estate

After a parent has passed, you should not rush to pay their bills from the assets of their estate. You must first review any estate planning documents they created, like a will or a trust, and review state law to determine what, if any, bills need to be paid. If you are a named fiduciary in your deceased parent’s documents, like a Personal Representative or Trustee, you may be liable to the heirs or beneficiaries of your deceased parent’s estate if you pay bills that are not valid. We recommend consulting with an experience estate planning attorney to put together a plan for managing the estate before you act.

Book a Call with our estate planning attorneys today, we are licensed in Missouri and our law firm services all of the St. Louis Metropolitan Area. We are especially convenient for estate planning in Clayton, Brentwood, Des Peres, Frontenac, Glendale, Webster Groves, Kirkwood, Ladue, Maplewood, Olivette, Overland, Richmond Heights, Rock Hill, Shrewsbury, Town and Country, Creve Coeur, Affton, Crestwood, Sappington, Sunset Hills, Maryland Heights, University City, Warson Woods, and St. Louis City.

Reference: U.S. News & World Report (June 28, 2024) “This Is Why You Might Be Responsible For Paying Your Parents’ Medical Debts”