Posted: 3/23/2005 8:58:36 PM EDT
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My grandmother passed away yesterday. She was 101..She was in a rest home in Florida. My father, who is 76 and lives here in AZ, doesn't know if she had a will. She wasn't all there for the last 10 years and he never asked. Medicaid paid for her care. Now, I have a real skunk of a cousin in Florida who is supposedly taking care of the arrangements. My grandmother paid for the plot next to my grandfather in 1976 when he passed away. The cemetary has no record. Now, here's the questions: If a life insurance policy was in place, is there a national insurance database that can verify if it has been collected? Because she was on Medicaid, would the state take the proceeds from the policy? How can I find payment records from 30 years ago for a cemetary? The bill is being passed onto my parents and they are on Social Security themselves.. My cousin is an ex-con and he can't pay for anything..I don't have the money. My mother is afraid they're going to just dump her in a paupers grave and be done with her if they can't come up with the money... Any ideas? Where do I start other than calling Medicaid in the morning? |
Too tired for much thinking right now. It is highly unlikely that the cemetery lacks records of the sale of the plot. That is a highly regulated industry. I'd contact the cemetery directly, and failing that the Fla Dept of Business Regulation, which IIRC oversees them. I do not believe that medicaid would take the insurance proceeds - in fact I am almost 100% sure they wouldn't, because insurance isn't part of the insured person's estate and is not attachable for his debts. I have no idea whether there is a national insurance registry. The insurance company or agent will have that information. I wouldn't mess with medicaid. I'd be on the horn with the cemetery, asking for copies of the purchase records for both grandma's and grandpa's plots - the records may be consolidated, even if the purchases were separate. I'd also be running down that insurance policy before shithead finds it and tries to cash it in. I'll check in tomorrow eveneing. Good luck. |