Here's a morbid topic, but my experience with collectors before my Chapter 7 makes me want to take care of this loose end.
As my signature says, I have no assets (still), so there are no real concerns about how my family would dispose of my so-called estate if I died unexpectedly. I don't have a will or a need for a will that I know of. I understand that student loans expire upon the borrower's death, but the Department of Education says something like "upon receipt of a proper death certificate." The one use I currently have for a will, or whatever, is to make sure family and references aren't turned over to the unscrupulous bill collectors. There's no telling what they could be bluffed into and how much grief energetic collectors could cause.
I realize the Dept. of Ed. is unlikely to be an unscrupulous collector, but they don't actually hold my student loans, they're just the guarantor. So how do you ensure that the student loans expire, or whatever, in an orderly manner? Do you hire a lawyer and make it the one, single thing they do as executor? My understanding is that if things are just allowed to run their course, the lender can't/doesn't actually pursue you or garnish your wages: they just put the loan in default and collect on their guarantee from the Dept. of Ed. That seems wrong: if a person dies and the law says that forgives the loan, the lender shouldn't be able to collect from the taxpayer. What would this executor do, exactly, to get the loans off the books in a timely way so that everyone is treated fairly and doesn't take improper advantage of time delays? What does it cost to get such a legal service? If it's affordable, I'd like to be able to make sure that if something happened to me the chips wouldn't have to just fall where they please and cause people problems they don't deserve.
As my signature says, I have no assets (still), so there are no real concerns about how my family would dispose of my so-called estate if I died unexpectedly. I don't have a will or a need for a will that I know of. I understand that student loans expire upon the borrower's death, but the Department of Education says something like "upon receipt of a proper death certificate." The one use I currently have for a will, or whatever, is to make sure family and references aren't turned over to the unscrupulous bill collectors. There's no telling what they could be bluffed into and how much grief energetic collectors could cause.
I realize the Dept. of Ed. is unlikely to be an unscrupulous collector, but they don't actually hold my student loans, they're just the guarantor. So how do you ensure that the student loans expire, or whatever, in an orderly manner? Do you hire a lawyer and make it the one, single thing they do as executor? My understanding is that if things are just allowed to run their course, the lender can't/doesn't actually pursue you or garnish your wages: they just put the loan in default and collect on their guarantee from the Dept. of Ed. That seems wrong: if a person dies and the law says that forgives the loan, the lender shouldn't be able to collect from the taxpayer. What would this executor do, exactly, to get the loans off the books in a timely way so that everyone is treated fairly and doesn't take improper advantage of time delays? What does it cost to get such a legal service? If it's affordable, I'd like to be able to make sure that if something happened to me the chips wouldn't have to just fall where they please and cause people problems they don't deserve.
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