Posted on 01/08/2013 8:34:25 AM PST by Kaslin
Dear Dave,
My daughter died. She was 32 years old and single, and she had lived with me for the last few years because she was recently disabled. I did not support her financially, and when she died she had no assets and no will. Is it my responsibility to pay the student loans and medical bills she left behind?
Jim
Dear Jim,
I’m so sorry you’re experiencing this kind of grief. Losing a child is a heartbreaking experience, no matter their age.
The short answer is this: If you didn’t sign for it, you’re not liable. If a friend were to move in with you, that doesn’t make you responsible for their debts. The fact that it was an adult family member doesn’t matter either. She was a legal adult who signed her name on the debts in question.
If I were in your shoes, I’d try to find any papers attached to these debts and make copies of them. Then, I’d write up a form letter stating the total debt amount and the fact that she died with no assets. By doing this you’re notifying them that she passed away, and they’re not going to be paid. There’s no will or estate to be probated, so they can close the accounts.
Doing this will make creditors aware of the situation, and it should also protect you from getting hammered with collection calls. But the creditors get nothing in this kind of situation.
God bless you, Jim.
—Dave
Dear Dave,
My husband doesn’t like dealing with money. For years, I’ve handled everything from paying the bills to making the decisions, and he just does whatever I tell him. This makes things really hard on me, but he says financial issues cause him stress. Do you have any suggestions?
Carol Lee
Dear Carol Lee,
The plain truth is you need your husband to step up and be a man. I’m sure he’s a nice guy, but it’s unfair for you alone to carry the weight of all financial and household decisions. It would be unfair, too, if he were the one carrying it all. This isn’t a gender issue.
My wife and I are involved in all the decisions in our home, and that’s especially true when it comes to money. We do a budget, and we decide together where the money’s going. It’s not a situation where she’s a little girl, and her daddy named Dave takes care of her and everything else. That’s the kind of thing you’ve got going on now. You feel like his mom rather than his wife, and that’s not what a healthy marriage is about.
You need to sit down with him and explain why this is so important to you and how it makes you feel. You’re not asking him to be a number cruncher, but he has to grow up and become part of the team. You can play the role of CFO and write all the checks. But you and he together are the board of directors. You just need 15 to 20 minutes of his time each week, so you guys can discuss what’s going on and how to handle things—together!
—Dave
Just 3 months later, interest rates starting going up on some of our credit cards.
So, I manned up!
My late wife handled all our financial affairs. I was perfectly capable of doing it myself but she was more businesslike plus she had a degree in business.
She was very good at it too.
My first thought was that Ramsey was making a statement on gay marriage. Heh.
SnakeDoc
Best marriage advise I ever got was from my female banker was to have separate bank accounts and credit cards. Plan on who pays what shared bills or set-up accounts to auto pay your portion. Except in extreme cases do not bail each other out.
My husband takes care of the heavy-duty financial stuff (IRAs, stocks, retirement funds), he does talk to me about it. I take care of the everyday stuff, checkbook, purchases, etc. It seems to have worked okay for us as we just celebrated our 32nd anniversary last week. It really fed into each of our strengths as hubby is a computer/math person and he thinks about things in complicated ways. He once decided to balance the checkbook for the month and it took him hours. I’ve been doing it every since; but, he will do a comprehensive balancing about once a year and I am always pleased when he tells me that I was just a couple of bucks off.
The greateest attribute to a good marriage is trust.
Financially and Emotionally.
My wife does the bills and I earn the money. She is a housewife and has been since a year after our marriage.
When I need money she writes me a check, when she needs it she writes herself one. We only use credit for vacations, everything else is paid for in cash.She doesnt ak me for money when she needs a new bra, and I dont ask her for it when I need new T-shirts.
If we buy a car we talk it over, we decide what she wants in her new car and I get her old one.I keep her in the new car because I don’t want her broken down on the road. I trust her and she trusts me.49 years it’s worked I hope it works for another 25 at least.
I think strategically and she thinks tactically. Glad to see someone else that works this way.
Dave Ramsey Ping!
Dave Ramsey Ping!
If you want something done right....
Is it my responsibility to pay the student loans and medical bills she left behind?...No. The government will do it. That’s what we voted for. As for the dude who doesn’t want to be involved with HIS finances, he wants to work his Whole life, be broke when he dies and enjoy nothing.
That is what I thought first too when I read the title. LOL
My wife is one of those people who has a very good sense of organization, where as I am disorganized. That being said, we agreed long ago that she should be in charge of watching our finances. So, my wife takes care of paying the bills, balancing the checkbook, and handling what credit cards we keep, get rid of, and apply for. We do discuss our finances however.
I on the other hand handle all our investments, and we are doing good for our future retirement. At least until Obama decides to nationalize the stock market.
When she has a question about anything we sit down and discuss it. She knows that if we need more money that I will make it, or we will cut back.
Our latest credit rating was above 850, and we have not payed interest on credit cards in 25 years. Today our total debt is $3,000, and most of that is from firewood we purchased to get through the winter, Christmas gifts, and the remainder of from medical bills racked up from spinal surgery I had last November on my neck.
Our home is paid for, and we have two vehicles that work great. One is a 1990 Toyota king-cab PU, and the other is a 2000 Ford Box Van with a lift kit, needed for my wife because she needs a wheelchair to get around.
I have always believed that both the husband and wife should make financial decisions together, but the man needs to be the one with the final say in all matters. So while my wife has done a masterful job, when it comes to decisions, she looks to me to make the final decision, and I look to God for my final decision.
Its worked great for us, and as I said, 25 years later we are sitting good. Ultimately I give the credit to God. God has given us what we need, and when he sees fit, he give us something extra.
I live my life as God requires me to. I always struggle in my walk with God, but I have faith that he will always forgive me as long as I go to Him for forgiveness. Another thing I do is use Scripture to use as a guide in my life, and no other scripture guides my financial life more than Proverb 30:7-9
Two things I request of You Deprive me not before I die. Remove falsehood and lies far from me; Give me neither poverty nor riches Feed me with the food allotted to me; Lest I be full and deny You, And say, "Who is the LORD?" Or lest I be poor and steal, And profane the name of my God.
I know several married couples who have such an arrangement. Separate accounts, and agreed upon arrangements as to who pays what: he may pay mortgage; she may pay for groceries; he pays for his car, she pays for hers.
That said, I just don't understand why they would choose to manage this separately. Why isn't it "our" money in a marriage, instead of his and hers? Does anyone else use such an arrangement, or know enough to elaborate?
The only drawback is we can't keep any financial secrets other than whatever cash we can squirrel away from our pocket money but that's probably for the best!
Well in my case my lovely wife cannot seem to grasp that you make X and cannot spend more than X when writing checks and got in trouble occasionally. When we had just the one account there was a few times that I went to pay a living expense bill or an emergency like a service call for an appliance or unscheduled auto repair and there was not enough to pay it because of poor arithmetic. No longer an issue.
The only way it makes any sense is if we've come to the point that people get married and immediately form contingency plans for a divorce. It sounds crass and certainly "unromantic", but then that seems to be the direction we've been traveling for some time now.
Wisconsin is a "community property" State so such a division means nothing in terms of "yours" and "mine" everything is "ours". A "no kids" divorce in Wisconsin splits everything right down the middle.
Regards,
GtG
What about the situation where the wife earns 80% of the income—pays all the bills; the husband is paying almost all his salary to the ex-wife and still wants to be king of his castle (dictate how money is spent; what decisions are made)?
Notice what Proverbs 31 says about the perfect wife. She handles the real estate transactions, buys and sells goods, manages the staff, works at a home business, and is a competent financial manager. Her worth is far above rubies.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.