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Home >> Special Situations >> Deceased Individuals
Nursing Home wants Payment before Heirs
My mother passed away last night at 11:30 PM. She was in a nursing home and had refused to pay them out of her checking account, so they now say that every dime in that account is theirs, even though I have no way to account for this. My mother sent a check for $2300 to my daughter for her twenty-third birthday. She routinely gave my daughter $100 a year throughout her life. I did not cash that check, because I wasn't sure what was really in my mother's account and didn't want to cause a catastrophe. I found out today that there's a lot of money in there and tomorrow I'm going to cash this check, because it's obvious to me that I will never see one dime from my mother's account. The bank says they will cash the check so long as there is money in the account, but what sort of trouble could I get into for doing this? Does the bank have the right to stop me, as my mother's heir, from getting her money? Don't they have to sue her estate? What right does such a place have to do this to her heirs?
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 It's not unusual for a nursing home to have a claim to the assets of a decedent's estate that is superior to claims of heirs. Taxes and other obligations are paid first by law.
You've asked about cashing the check payable to your daughter. If you are able to cash it, it's possible that the nursing home could attempt to collect those funds from you later.
If the nursing home notifies the bank that it has an interest in the funds in the account, the bank should refuse to pay any checks on the account, including the one payable to your daughter. Otherwise, the bank may (not must) honor checks drawn before your mother's death for up to ten days after her death, but no longer. Then the estate would have to go into probate, at which time the nursing home and any other creditors would file their claims. If you are concerned about your rights in this situation, to talk to an attorney.
Published on BankingQuestions.com 5/26/10
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