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PayPal Told Customer Her Death Breached Its Rules (bbc.com)
dryriver shares a report from the BBC: PayPal wrote to a woman who had died of cancer saying her death had breached its rules and that it might take legal action as a consequence. The firm has since acknowledged that the letter was "insensitive," apologized to her widower, and begun an inquiry into how it came to be sent.
Lindsay Durdle died on May 31 aged 37. She had been first diagnosed with breast cancer about a year-and-a-half earlier. The disease had later spread to her lungs and brain. PayPal was informed of Mrs Durdle's death three weeks ago by her husband Howard Durdle. He provided the online payments service with copies of her death certificate, her will and his ID, as requested. He has now received a letter addressed in her name, sent to his home in Bucklebury, West Berkshire. It was headlined: "Important: You should read this notice carefully." It said that Mrs Durdle owed the company about 3,200 pounds (~$4,200) and went on to say: "You are in breach of condition 15.4(c) of your agreement with PayPal Credit as we have received notice that you are deceased... this breach is not capable of remedy." According to a PayPal staff member, there were three possible explanations for how the letter was sent: a bug, a bad letter template, or human error. PayPal is continuing to work with Mr Durdle and has written off the debt in the meantime.
Lindsay Durdle died on May 31 aged 37. She had been first diagnosed with breast cancer about a year-and-a-half earlier. The disease had later spread to her lungs and brain. PayPal was informed of Mrs Durdle's death three weeks ago by her husband Howard Durdle. He provided the online payments service with copies of her death certificate, her will and his ID, as requested. He has now received a letter addressed in her name, sent to his home in Bucklebury, West Berkshire. It was headlined: "Important: You should read this notice carefully." It said that Mrs Durdle owed the company about 3,200 pounds (~$4,200) and went on to say: "You are in breach of condition 15.4(c) of your agreement with PayPal Credit as we have received notice that you are deceased... this breach is not capable of remedy." According to a PayPal staff member, there were three possible explanations for how the letter was sent: a bug, a bad letter template, or human error. PayPal is continuing to work with Mr Durdle and has written off the debt in the meantime.
Bugs and bad letter templates all have the same cause: human error.
Computers don't make mistakes.
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You must do so in a timely manner, in writing, notarized by a lawyer. It's assumed by default that you accept it if you don't do this.
Can he still be held responsible for paying his deceased wife's debts? One of my girlfriends ran up all her mom's credit cards as she was dying of breast cancer, because she knew the debt would go away when she died.
This particular case is in the U.K. so I don't know how they handle that.
In the U.S. you are responsible for your spouse's debts when they die.
Only if it's a joint account. Otherwise it's paid out of the estate and then only if you live in a community property state do the couple's shared assets become up for grabs for a debt collector.
Example number 1299006 of why you should not take legal advice from /.
https://www.consumerfinance.go...
The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
You can always refuse an inheritance, the trick is , you have to refuse it *wholesale*. Meaning you can't pick and chose. Furthermore if the debt was cosigned by *both* spouse then in some cases the other signatory still continue to hold the debt.
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