Future or Current Estate Executor? Listen up

by Michelle Tabler, AARP Alaska Volunteer Fraud Education Expert

Have you ever settled the affairs for a relative or friend who has passed? Are you the future Estate Executor for a relative? While my articles generally focus on fraud topics, I’m offering the following tips based on my ongoing experience to date to help future executors.

I had a rude awakening when my mother passed away in March of this year. I thought I had a handle on her affairs as the Executor; I was listed on her banking accounts and had been paying her bills for several years. It’s been months, and I am still spending hours each week on her affairs.

Here are my top tips for current or future account executors:

· A family member suggested monitoring my mother’s emails. I hadn’t thought of that. I spent hours unsubscribing to shopping sites, magazine subscriptions, and more. But a few very important emails came in with information that I would not have known about otherwise, including a statement for an investment account that we hadn’t known about.

· Close all online accounts while you still have access to your friend or family member’s computer, especially if passwords are saved. Be sure to have an updated list of passwords for any online activities including their email account, Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, other subscription services, financial accounts, and any other online sites your relative or friend might’ve used. Canceling Facebook, Amazon and other accounts using the call center numbers has been frustrating and time consuming. I have spent dozens of hours on hold and it’s still ongoing.

· Sign up online to have mail forwarded with the United State Postal Service (USPS). Set up Informed Delivery so you can monitor incoming mail. As mail arrives, be sure to change the address with each company so future correspondence comes directly to you as mail forwarding has a time limit. Recently, due to Informed Delivery, I was notified that an Amazon package had been delivered to my mother (at her former assisted living facility) that is probably part of a scam. I reported that possible fraud to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

· If possible, keep the cell phone service (and/or the land line) active until all accounts have been closed. Subscription services or other accounts may have two-factor authentication with the code going to the phone (for one of my mother’s accounts, the code was a call to the landline). Some accounts may also have the “change password” link going to the cell phone. This was a hard lesson for me as I thought it prudent to shut down my mother’s phones right away to avoid further monthly charges. That was a time-consuming mistake.

· Although it’s best to know this information before your relative/friend passes, check to see what medical insurance they have. Make copies of their cards for Medicare, Supplements, Part D and other insurance such as property, auto and life insurance policies. Ask if there is a hospital indemnity policy and check if claims for recent hospitalizations and rehab facilities have been made. You may have to make these claims after your loved one’s death, so be sure to have the information. I’m currently having to jump through hoops sending documentation for a hospital indemnity policy: they keep rejecting my claims due to what they consider missing information. This week, they rejected a claim because the hospital’s address wasn’t on the form. Really? Be persistent and keep resubmitting by appeal.

· Have copies of all credit cards that would need to be closed as well as any bills that are on autopay. Contact all companies. In most cases, I was able to send a scanned copy of the death certificate rather than mailing a copy.

As you go through this long, arduous process, be prepared for frustration in dealing with companies who systematically make it difficult to cancel accounts. In one case, I’ve had to appeal to the Federal Trade Commission. That case is ongoing. On another account, I had to file a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to finally get the account closed down and the ongoing charges stopped. That took an additional three months after I turned in the equipment and thought the account had been closed. This involved multiple phone calls, visits to stores, emails to corporate headquarters, and finally the FCC complaint.

There is an actual name for this – sludging (introducing obstacles) – which refers to the practice of intentionally making a product or service difficult to use or cancel. I can only imagine the frustration experienced by elderly seniors or children after a spouse or parent’s death when faced with the roadblocks created by these companies. The longer they can drag out the process, the more money they can make/save. Be prepared to be persistent!

After a loss, it’s hard to know where to start.  AARP has a checklist for those early days.