What Happens to Medical Bills When Someone Dies in Michigan?
When a person passes away after a fatal injury, health emergency, or chronic illness, the medical bills they generated during their life don’t simply go away. Rather, these expenses must be addressed during the administration of their estate.
Understanding What Happens to Debts After Death
In Michigan, a decedent’s estate is responsible for paying the decedent’s debts, including their medical bills. A person’s estate includes their savings and checking accounts, cash equivalents, stocks and other securities, personal property, cryptocurrency, and real estate. A personal representative of the decedent’s estate can pay the decedent’s debts out of estate assets.
Furthermore, the personal representative must satisfy all creditor claims before they may distribute inheritances to the decedent’s heirs or beneficiaries. When an estate lacks sufficient assets or funds to pay all the decedent’s creditors, any outstanding debts may go unpaid. However, the decedent’s surviving family members bear no responsibility to pay those outstanding debts (unless they took out the debt with the decedent or co-signed the decedent’s loan).
The Role of the Probate Process
Probate offers a formal procedure for creditors to submit claims to a decedent’s estate for payment. During probate, the personal representative must identify a decedent’s creditors, provide known creditors with individual notice of the estate administration, and publish a general notice for unknown creditors. The personal representative also must evaluate any submitted claims to determine their validity and timeliness. Creditors have a specific deadline for filing claims after the personal representative provides notice. However, in the event that a personal representative fails to provide or publish notice, creditors may have as long as three years to file claims.
The law treats medical providers or holders of medical debt like other unsecured creditors, with their claims paid in the following order, according to the priority of claims against an estate:
- Costs of estate administration
- Taxes
- Funeral expenses
- Secured debts
- Unsecured debts
Do Families Have to Pay Medical Bills?
Generally speaking, a decedent’s surviving family members bear no responsibility to pay a deceased loved one’s medical bills. However, certain exceptions to this rule may apply, such as:
- A spouse who co-signed for a medical loan or an agreement for medical services
- A spouse jointly incurred medical bills, such as nursing home care
As a result, family members, including adult children, usually have no obligation to pay a deceased loved one’s medical bills.
What to Do When Medical Bills Arrive After Death
Has your family received medical bills for a loved one’s medical care after their death? If so, consider taking the following steps:
- Contact the personal representative of your loved one’s estate and forward them a copy of the bill.
- Do not pay a loved one’s medical debts without confirming your legal responsibility to do so, even when debt collectors tell you that you have to pay a bill.
- Keep records of all written correspondence you receive from medical creditors.
- Consult a Michigan probate attorney to confirm whether you or any family members have a legal responsibility for a deceased loved one’s debt and to understand the process for processing creditor claims during estate administration.
Contact a Probate Lawyer Today
The loss of a loved one is hard enough without having to deal with pushy creditors trying to get you to pay for expensive medical bills. Rather than face them alone, contact Bingham Legal Group PC today for a confidential consultation with a knowledgeable probate attorney. We’ll explain what happens to your loved one’s outstanding medical bills after they pass away in Michigan, and what we can do to help you with the probate process.