High Point, NC asked in Contracts, Health Care Law, Estate Planning and Collections for North Carolina

Q: Can the hospital really take my father’s home for payment of 7 days In the hospital with no insurance?

My father had no will but anticipated leaving me everything as he is not married and has no other children. I am the administrator of his estate. The hospital has filed a claim against the estate for $111,000. The sum of his final 7 days on this Earth in the hospital with no insurance. He had no other debt. This just feels cruel to lose him and now everything I have left of him. How is it right for the entire sum of his 56 years on this Earth to be taken on account of one week? Is there any way around this? Do hospitals ever work with loved ones to allow them the opportunity to make payments and leave estate out of the process? I was the one who called ambulance due to his altered mental status and believed they would just simply be treating an infection on the cancer on his neck. He was intubated the first day he was there however and kept in a medically induced coma until he passed away.

1 Lawyer Answer
Bruce Alexander Minnick
Bruce Alexander Minnick
Answered
  • Estate Planning Lawyer
  • Tallahassee, FL

A: Try working with the hospital to reduce the debt and agree to make regular payments to pay it all off within a reasonable period of time. Hiring a lawyer might help.

1 user found this answer helpful

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