I thought I was doing fine until.....

[cgmiller63]

I thought I was doing fine until I got an email from one of the credit card companies advising me they closed our account. My husband was the account holder and I was an authorized user.  I don't have a problem with them closing the account but this brought reality crashing down on me.  I have a job interview in less than 2 hours and this is the last thing I needed.

There are several cards in his name with me as authorized and cards in my name with him as authorized.  I plan on paying off the credit cards that have a balance but I am waiting for the death certificate so that I could close the accounts on the same day.  Now I'm concerned with how closing long term accounts is going to affect my FICO score.

[Janice 252]

That was the last thing you needed. I have only just begun the long process of dealing with paperwork and of course nothing is straightforward. Let me know how the interview goes. X

[KMB]

Good luck with the job interview.

A few weeks ago, I had to go through the same thing with credit cards. I was an authorized user on my husband's card. The account was closed and even though I paid the bills, I had no credit history with the account. Fortunately, because of my husband's long standing 46 years of history with them, (USAA) they did issue me my own card with a small credit balance. I have to start all over building a credit history of my own. I ran into a similar problem with our cellphone account. Service was terminated on my husband's cellphone. I kept my cellphone but a new account had to be opened and I had to pay a deposit. Thank God, I had that new credit card!! I was working full time when I met my husband, 1991. We were married in 1998. My job was downsizing and the following year I talked to my husband about looking for something else. He told me to quit, that I didn't need to work. It worked out fine, I was able to spend more time with him and more time for taking care of the books, paperwork and errands for his trucking business. I was happy and content helping my husband all those years and being a homemaker. He was an excellent provider, we never lacked for anything. A workaholic and he was happy. The downside of being a workaholic, the person doesn't take the time to take care of their health. My life revolved around my husband, I became his caregiver several years ago and he managed to work part time until this past February. The decline in his health happened quickly after that. It was heart breaking to watch it happening but I kept strong for both of us and kept the faith that a new med or surgery could put him on the right track. I would have kept taking care of him forever. Not meant to be---my life as a knew it is blown apart.

All the financial, legal things, to make changes with have not been easy. My husband had most things prepared for but some things like our joint bank accounts I'm not planning on making name changes to for quite awhile. Someday down the road if I become stable and clear headed enough to face total reality that I am by myself.

[Janice 252]

Hi there. That sounds so unnecessarily complicated. Thankfully I looked after all our finances but of course everything is in joint names so that is going to take forever. And any utility accounts which were in my husband's name have to be closed and new accounts opened. Goodnight everyone. Thanks for being there for me. Hugs.x

[KayC]

If the cards were in your name, you might want to leave them open.  If they're in his name, you should be able to get them closed with a copy of the death certificate.  In some states you're not responsible for his bills.  I remortgaged my home to pay off his hospital & doctor & ambulance bills because they were putting pressure on me and charging high interest.  I later found I wasn't legally responsible to have done so.  Oh well, we were a couple and felt responsible for each other regardless.