Question from Pat in South Africa
How do I call on creditors to submit claims in a deceased's estate?
Expert Answer by Barbara Kate Repa
Barbara Repa, a Caring.com senior editor, is an attorney, a journalist specializing in aging issues, and the author of WillMaker, software enabling consumers to write their own wills, health care directives, powers of attorney, and final arrangements.
Assuming you are the executor of a will that is being administered in the United States, the law provides a fairly forthright procedure for notifying creditors and potential creditors.
First, you must send notices to all creditors you know about, as gleaned through a search of their personal papers and bills.
And second, you must publish a notice--called a Legal Notice--in the local newspaper where the person lived and was likely to incur debts. The purpose of this is to notify potential creditors--those you don't know about directly--of the death and their need to alert you about debts the deceased person owes them.
