Advice please- somewhat of the legal nature...
SD Princess 21 was in a horrible car accident when she was 19. The custody papers state that the parent who has custody of the child at the time of an accident will pay for any medical bills incurred during the visit. Princess was in her bio-mom's husband's truck and was on her way to her bio-mom's family reunion. Bio-mom, known as Loca Grande, insisted on taking her to a fancier hospital and said she would pay everything...
It's now 2 years later, and we have just discovered Loca has barely paid a penny! Princess is getting calls from bill collectors. She's found out that Loca Grande has said she's 21 now and she's not a child and she can pay for it all herself. She is telling friends and family that now that Princess is 21, she doesn't need a mom anymore and has decided to disown her daughter, and won't pay the bills.
Princess is finishing school, and has collectors telling her her future wages will be garnished. The bills are over $100,000! Since it all happened while in Loca's care, we have no idea about insurance settlements, or anything like that.
WE figured Loca was not completely following through, but we didn't realize it was this bad. Princess hasn't told us- she confessed it all to another family member, who is afraid she might be somewhat suicidal over this- the idea of looming debt and Loca's disregard for her...
How do we help? What are steps we need to take?
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Before she files bankruptcy
Before she files bankruptcy she needs to get a lawyer and get their advice. Her mother may be on the hook for the fees, we don't know anything about the accident, if Loca had auto insurance it should have covered her medical bills. If her mother sued someone for causing the accident and received a payout then her mother owes that money to the daughter.
You are correct- I had posted
You are correct- I had posted previously about another settlement for an accident she was in when she was 12 years old. Those bills had already been paid and taken care of... This post was about another accident...
Thank you all for your help
Thank you all for your help and advice. We have made many calls today to find out more information about the situation.
Added info- they had set up their divorce decree ages ago to state that care would continue until 21. IDK why... No child support was every paid. Although custody was joint, he had primary rights as the custodial parent. She only had to pay health care fees incurred while with her on weekends or in summer, and for their clothing and any expenses during time they were with her. She also had to provide and pay for all transportation costs. My husband and I have paid all other expenses.
They did get some insurance money for replacing his truck, but to my knowledge no other money was awarded... We found out some of the initial bills were paid by the stepfather...
Did you ever get the full
Did you ever get the full story on that accident? Who was at fault? If another was at fault, their insurance should have picked up the tab or the insurance on the truck. Wow what pos bm is.
We have spent the last week
We have spent the last week gathering as much paper work and data. Princess made copies of many of the bills and sent them to Loca to pay, so we have that and a few other things. We are waiting for the official accident report. The lawyer we met with was very helpful, and seemed there might be more to it- including a botched surgery, since Princess has had two surgeries as a result of the accident. We are just praying money wasn't given to Loca and she blew it on other stuff. The promising note there is that Loca has not lived extravagantly or done anything out of the ordinary (for her, anyway) in the last year or so since the accident... Thanks! I will keep you posted!