How to Pay Bills of the Deceased
- 1). Make sure the debt was incurred before the person passed away.
- 2). Make sure the debts are valid. A simple test is to discover whether goods were provided or services rendered. For example, utility and credit card bills would be considered valid.
- 3). Find out if any agreements were in place to make the debt go away upon death. For example, some leases are designed to terminate upon the death of the lessee. Of course, rent would need to be paid through the date of death. In addition, you may find that some types of insurance were in place to pay certain kinds of debt.
- 4). Get an attorney's advice relative to prioritizing the bills to be paid. Legal priority varies by state. In general, however, funeral expenses, medical bills related to the decedent's last illness, taxes and Medicare are considered high priorities.
- 5). Pay the bills using estate funds. As executor, you should already have opened an estate account and deposited any relevant monies. Once the bills are paid, if any money remains, distributions to heirs are in order.
Source...