Who Is Responsible for Medical Bills When Someone Dies? - GoodRx (2024)

Many people have medical debt. Nine percent of adults — about 23 million people — owe a medical debt of $250 or more, according to the Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker. About 1% of adults owe more than $10,000, and those bills represent most of the medical debt in the U.S.

Medical debt may not disappear when you die.

Let’s explore what happens to medical debt after death.

Who handles medical debt after someone dies?

Medical debt for the deceased is paid by a person’s estate — if the estate has enough assets. An estate with enough assets to pay any or all debts is considered “solvent.” If an estate does not have enough assets to pay debts, it is considered “insolvent.”

Survivors are not responsible for medical debt, in most cases. But survivors can be responsible for medical bills after someone dies if they are:

• A surviving spouse who lives in a state where marital assets are owned jointly by spouses under the law. These states are known as community property states.

• A co-signer who guaranteed a debt with the deceased person

• A parent or spouse living in a state with laws that deem them responsible for certain costs such as healthcare

• An executor, estate administrator, or other person representing the estate

What kind of medical debt might be the responsibility of survivors?

An estate administrator is responsible for paying debts from the assets of a solvent estate. If an estate is not solvent (or insolvent), creditors often write off, or forgive, the debt.

Still, survivors can become personally responsible for certain healthcare debts of the deceased. Those situations include:

• Co-signed medical bills: A person seeking medical treatment usually signs papers taking responsibility for costs as a self-pay patient or if the health insurance plan doesn’t pay. If someone else signed those papers for a person who later died, the person who signed could be responsible for the medical bills.

• Filial responsibility: More than half of U.S. states have laws that require children to provide financial support to parents who can’t afford their bills under certain circ*mstances. These laws often involve medical debts such as nursing home costs. Often, these laws are not enforced, or a situation doesn’t meet all the criteria for a child to have to pay a parent’s medical debt.

• Medicaid estate recovery: If someone receiving Medicaid is age 55 or older when they die, a federal law requires state Medicaid programs to recover payments from the deceased individual’s estate. The state program can seek to recover all the payments made for the deceased person’s nursing home care, home and community-based services, and related hospital and prescription drug services. If the deceased person has a spouse, child under age 21, or a blind or disabled child of any age, Medicaid cannot pursue repayment. States also must have a process to waive recovery when doing so would create undue hardship such as spousal impoverishment.

• Community property states: Spouses usually are held responsible for each other’s debts in community property states. There are nine community property states: Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin. (In Alaska, spouses can choose whether to deem property community or not.) Laws vary, so you might want to consult an attorney about how living in a particular community property state affects your responsibility for a deceased spouse’s medical debt.

How is a deceased person’s medical debt brought to the attention of survivors?

Often, debt collectors will send bills to the deceased person’s address. They may call the deceased person’s phone number. They also may try to contact a spouse, heirs of an estate, or other survivors.

If the deceased person has a will, a process will take place to settle the estate. That process will include paying debts. Often, debt collectors will learn about a death because of an obituary or probate, a legal process that happens after someone dies. Probate has several functions, including ensuring assets are distributed to beneficiaries and creditors. Life insurance or retirement accounts contain assets that go directly to beneficiaries and are protected from being used to settle the estate.

Often, an estate executor or other survivor will notify creditors of the death. We’ll discuss that in the next section.

How do you notify creditors of a death?

In most cases, an executor, estate administrator, or survivor of the deceased will need to notify creditors of the death. That’s usually done by sending a notification in writing and including a copy of the death certificate. Once the creditor receives this information, it may share the information with the three major consumer credit reporting bureaus.

You also may want to send a notification with a copy of the death certificate directly to one of the three consumer credit reporting bureaus. They are:

• Equifax

• Experian

• TransUnion

The credit reporting bureau that receives the death report will share the information with the other two.

If you are the surviving spouse, you also should include a copy of your identification. If you are not the surviving spouse, you should include court documents that show you are authorized to act on behalf of the deceased, as well as a copy of your identification.

The U.S. Social Security Administration also notifies credit bureaus of the deaths of people who have Social Security numbers. The credit bureaus flag the credit reports of the deceased to help prevent fraudulent activity such as identity theft.

Can you negotiate medical bills for someone who has died?

It’s worth a try.

Sometimes, smaller medical debts are written off or forgiven when a person dies. But don’t be surprised if creditors pursue payment for larger medical bills.

You may be able to negotiate the charges on medical bills after the death of a loved one. Call the medical provider to propose a settlement offer to be paid all at once or through a payment plan. Usually, a settlement offer is less than the amount owed and forgives added fees. Let the creditor know that the person who received services is deceased, and they may be more willing to work with you.

Negotiating charges may be more difficult if the debt has been sold to a collection agency, but your settlement offer still may be accepted — especially if you can pay a discounted amount at one time.

Does taking on the general debt of a deceased person affect your credit?

Not usually. The surviving family members typically are not responsible for the bills of a deceased person, including medical debt.

A spouse or relative may become responsible for the debt of the deceased under these circ*mstances:

• Medical debt: If you signed documents authorizing a medical treatment for a person who is now deceased, you could be on the hook for that bill. We’ll talk specifically about medical debt in the next section.

• Joint debts with a spouse: These usually include mortgages, auto loans, and lines of credit. A joint credit card or medical credit account would be included, as well. Typically, a credit card only in the name of the deceased spouse is not included. People who are authorized users of credit cards also are not responsible for the debts on those accounts.

• Co-signed debt: If you signed for a person who is now deceased to qualify for a credit card, vehicle loan, or other debt, you become responsible for that account.

• Home equity loan on inherited property: If you are the heir to a home that has an unpaid home equity loan or line of credit, you will be responsible for that debt.

• Timeshares: If you inherit a timeshare, you are now responsible for any associated assessments or maintenance fees.

What should you do if you cannot afford the medical debt passed to you?

If you have inherited or incurred medical debt from a deceased loved one, communicate with the creditor. Ensure that you —and not the estate —are responsible for the debt. If the medical debt still resides with a provider, you might be able to qualify for a financial assistance program. As mentioned above, you also might try to negotiate a discounted amount to pay at one time or through a payment plan.

Also, closely review all the bills to ensure that they are accurate. Check for duplicate and unreasonable charges.

If you have exhausted all options, filing bankruptcy for medical bills could help you liquidate or reorganize the debt.

What happens if you ignore medical debt assigned to you?

Medical debt can be overwhelming, but ignoring the bills won’t make them go away.

Creditors may be aggressive in pursuing the medical debt of a deceased person. If you are responsible for those bills, they may reach out to you.

If the debt resides with a provider, a hospital billing office may send you mail or begin contacting you by phone. If the medical debt has been assigned to a collection agency, you may be contacted to pay, or the debt collector could file a lawsuit seeking repayment. The debt could eventually appear on your credit report and affect your credit score.