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Browning Founding Partner, SVP Income Solutions Wealth Management 3200 Troup Highway, Suite 150 Tyler, Texas 75701 855-428-3512 Toll Free 903-787-8916 Direct 903-312-1585 Mobile 903-787-8919 Fax Please visit us at: www.LanceBrowning.com
to sell gold in response to its debt crisis. Although Cyprus gold holdings are small, the fear is that other troubled eurozone nations may follow suit. Will this week be calmer? Its possible, but economic news will include the first estimate of U.S. GDP growth for first quarter. According to Reuters, GDP growth is forecast at 3 percent annualized even though fourth quarters GDP growth was 0.4 percent annualized. ARE YOU RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR LOVED ONES UNPAID DEBT? Its never easy when someone dies. Grief is a powerful, and sometimes debilitating, experience that often leaves next of kin vulnerable. Unfortunately, there is a group that sometimes tries to take advantage of family members in mourning. No, theyre not scammers or confidence men. Theyre debt collectors who try to persuade family members to accept responsibility for hospital bills, credit card balances, auto loans, and other debts incurred by the deceased even though family members have no legal obligation to pay. People dont always know when someone dies, their debts die with them. There are exceptions to this, particularly for spouses. If you live in a community property state, typically, spouses share property and debts equally. Non-spouse family members, however, have no obligation to pay outstanding debts of the deceased unless they have co-signed a debt agreement. Regardless of these facts, debt collectors may contact you after the death of a loved one. The AARP Bulletin reported debt collection agencies frequently employ specially trained representatives who make sympathetic calls to husbands, wives, children, and other family members to urge them ever-so-gently to pay what the loved one owed. The Bulletin advised family members who receive these calls to hang up. There is an established procedure for collecting debts from a deceased person. Its called probate, and it is the appropriate way for debt collectors to pursue collections after death. After receiving numerous complaints about death-collections practices, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigated the situation by listening to recordings of calls between collectors and mourners. The FTC determined that some debt collectors misled relatives into believing they had to pay the deceaseds debts. As government agencies are apt to do, the FTC issued new guidelines. Debt collectors should discuss a dead person's debt only with the spouse or someone chosen by the estate to discuss the matter. The next time you revise your will, you may want to designate someone to discuss any outstanding debts after your death. It could save your spouse some unnecessary heartache.
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