When you are in difficult times, you may find some unexpected money troubles to turn up, like a death of a family member in a hospital. You will then have to deal with the unpaid medical bills. The bill will typically involve right from the time of hospitalization till the time spent in the hospital. The emergency room treatments, intensive care unit billings are all included in it which can be of an astronomical value. The first thing that may come to mind regarding the payment of the bill is the utilization of the person’s estates if it is enough to pay it off.
Rules Of Inherited Debts
Though the unpaid bill is not the responsibility of other members of the family, it is good to check out the laws of the state regarding debts of any deceased. Different states have different laws as medical itself has its set of rules for debts resulting due to the death of any patient. You are liable to pay the bill if you have cosigned in a document stating that you will be personally responsible for such debts arising from the death of the patient. If you are a dependent or legal heir then you have a legal duty and responsibility towards the person, then also you are expected to meet with such expenses.
Ways to Pay It Off
When you inherit a medical bill then also you are liable to pay it off just like you would have paid your own. The process being similar all the way, there are some other ways which you might find beneficial to pay off the bill effectively. Though in most cases such inherited medical debt is cleared off by subtracting the value from the total value of the personal assets of the deceased, there may be some amount left. For such cases, you can try out compassionate crowd funding by creating an online fundraiser. You can also use this free process by combining it with other fundraising activities and events.
Take A Loan
You can choose the most traditional way of borrowing from a line of credit or a bank. Applying for a loan can take time, and it will also add some amount regarding interest apart from your monthly schedules. This loan will increase your debt and if you have a low credit score already, you may not even receive such a loan or may have to arrange for a co-signer who has a better credit score that your own. Your co-signer can be an acquaintance, family member or a friend who will take up the legal responsibility to pay it off along with you.
Negotiate Your Bills
You can also talk to your family member or friend to personally borrow money from them and pay them later, with or without interest. You can also take help of various professionals who negotiate on your behalf to lower the bill. You can check online to find some of these medical bill negotiators who can deal with issues of medical bills using a portion of your savings to pay off the bill. Credit consolidation loans are well in demand these days and people are going for them so as to make things easy for themselves. You can too check them out and you will surely find them useful and interesting.
