Posted on 06/29/2013 8:42:26 AM PDT by xkaydet65
I received a phone call from American Express a few minutes ago telling me that Social Security had notified them of my wife's recent, three weeks ago, passing, and that they were cancelling her card and what payment arrangements did I wish to make. I hintend to deal with her cards and our accounts but for the life of me I can't comprehend what Social Security is doing passing bnews of her death to private institutions. Where in the law does SSS get this authority. Tea Party Patriot that my wife was, she would be outraged at this example of govt intrusion and overreach.
THIS.
I wonder if there is an arranged and ongoing exchange of information, ie., “You tell me if one of your cardholders dies and we’ll tell you if we get a death notice.”
“Is it a matter of public record when someone passes away, and are records such as Social Security public knowledge?”
A funeral home has to contact Social Security when they have a body.
I am so sorry about your wife.
“As far as the Social Security Administration goes, they can go pound sand. I would not provide them anything of any nature. They would not exist in my mind. eff them.”
If you use a funeral home when someone dies, the funeral home must contact social security so they would be in your life at that point. I’ve never heard of them contacting credit card companies. The funeral home didn’t ask me about credit cards and neither did social security when I had to go to their office about my husband’s death and that was in 2011.
My condolences as well.
Please realize there are so many scams! I’m sure she will be voting democrat in the next election.
May our Heavenly Father strengthen you.
They also report to banks, state income tax bureaus, etc.
Texas is a community property state, however, if a card is only in one person’s name, only that person is responsible. This changed years ago when credit changed to be by individual, not couple. If a spouse has a card only in his/her name, the other spouse is not responsible for that debt because the spouse with the card got the card on the basis of his/her credit, not the spouse’s credit.
If your spouse has a card and you are not on it, the spouse got it with his/her credit, and the spouse runs up a $50,000 bill, you are not responsible.
You missed my point...They (the special class)treat whites the same way she MAY (it has never been proved) have treated the special class. Period.
When my husband died, I told the funeral director that I would notify SS the following as de died in a Sunday. He told me not to bother as, the minute that my husband drew his last breath, SS knew it.
I said at the funeral home I would contact social security. The funeral home administrator told me they were required to do it and it had been done. That is in Texas and it was 2011.
I think this is likely a scam. When my dad died, not only did SS NOT call me, but I had to go wait in line at one of their offices to report is death.
I don’t believe for one moment that SS is constantly and proactively scanning databases looking for people who have recently died.
Besides how would SS or Amex or anyone else know to call YOU? Some scamster has probably been reading obits and got your name.
“They also report to banks, state income tax bureaus, etc.”
They don’t report to banks. I was told by a banker that they go through death notices in the newspaper every day to determine if one of those people has an account at their bank. If one does, the bank closes the account until they are contacted by the survivor or executor or executrix.
“...The caller told me notice of my wife’s death has been sent to credit card companies, banks, and lending institutions for them to match against their records. That goes somewhat beyond allowing access to public inf.”
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My suspicion is that the American Express caller was ignorant of the actual technical process. The IT folks in American Express’ “central office” have probably set up a process to regularly query public records in scheduled “runs”, pull information on “recent” deaths and then take that data and match against A.E. records. They’d then take any hits and process them according to whatever their set of rules are.
I would hope that whatever actions, letters & calls they take would take into consideration the delicate situation and family feelings.
Thanks. My daughter died in 1985 about three months after I deposited $36,000 in a savings account for her after I contracted in Africa for a diamond mine. I went home, buried her, lost my contract and was dunned for thousands for having her name and mine on the account by the state of PA. I was so PO”ed that they could tax a 19 Month old child that I almost committed a TRUE felony. I thought the funeral home did it.
2 years after my dad passed ..a life insurance company tracked my brother down to tell him about a policy left behind for us. They did a routine SS death check and it came up that my father had passed. Wierd they found you so quick but with computers today and a big company like Amex they probably run the check daily.
So sometimes it could be for good however they could have sent you a letter and not been so cold about it.
Having said that, very sorry for your lose!
Sorry for your loss.
If you are not on the card, I do not believe you are responsible for her debt.
I would not pay one cent to those banksters.
You may want to read this article:
Snippet: "Furthermore, according to Texas attorney Glen Ayers, if you live in a community property state, you'd better hope you didn't receive community property in the divorce. "That divorce judgment does not bind the credit card company. It's going to chase you," he says. In a community property state, the rules are different during life and at death. "In community states such as Texas, any community property that passes to my wife as well as any specific bequest to my children would be liable on my death," says Ayers. If a wife, for example, has no contractual obligation to the community property, her separate property can't be touched, Ayers adds. However, community property can be used to pay off debts. Community debt laws are complex and vary even among community property states, so talk to a lawyer in your state about your situation."
“However, community property can be used to pay off debts.”
This is true - after a husband’s death, his part of the community property can be used to pay his debt. If you have a joint bank account, his part can be used to pay his debt. Any property the wife had before the marriage, is not community property and the same is true with the husband. Community property is only that which occurs after the marriage between the two people.
As far as divorce, one shouldn’t have community property after a divorce. It would have been split up in the financial part of the divorce - he got his half and the wife got her half and each individually owns his/her half from that point on. The lawyer is saying that when he says, “her separate property can’t be touched”.
A divorce and a death usually has an attorney to keep it all straight.
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