Mom Was Served
Good evening/morning/afternoon everyone! Yesterday was kind of a shock and I'm looking for some guidance. My mother got served court papers for a dental procedure she had never paid for. Long story short about 5 years ago she was told prior to the procedure that it would be covered by insurance, however once the procedure was done (incorrectly I will add) she was expected to pay around $1,300. We've been experiencing financial insatiability for as long as I can remember, so she did not have that money. It has also been confirmed by her current dentist that the procedure was done incorrectly, causing immense amount of discomfort and pain for the past 5 years. My mom does not have the faculties to deal with a court case, and I also have so much on my plate already this is the last thing I want to be dealing with right now. What do I do next? I have no idea who to talk to, do I need a lawyer? I can't afford that right now. Any and all advice from people who have dealt with something similar is greatly appreciated :)
Comments
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Call your local Legal Aid society, you can get free legal advice that way. Do you have power of attorney for your mother? If not that is something else they can probably help you with.
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Good advice from M1 to start by calling a local legal aid society.
You're going to need POA in order to deal with this.
Who filed the suit? The dental clinic or a bill collection agency? That will determine how you should proceed. Often bill collection agencies, which buy the debt for pennies on the dollar, will file claim in small claims court as a long shot and often don't end up collecting anything, especially if there are no assets that are easy to tap like wages that can be garnished. They may not even bother to send a representative to court. The legal aid society can best advise you. They can also tell you if time has run out on the debt.
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I've been struggling with figuring out how to obtain POA and had no idea a Legal Aid Society existed so calling them is definitely the next step. Thank you so much!
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The dental clinic filed themselves, it's just one sole owner. I've dealt with debt collectors before but having an actual person show up to the house and serve her papers made me feel quite unsettled. It's also time to have a talk with my mom about not opening the door if me and/or my partner are not home. Thank you so much for the guidance!
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If the dental office filed the claim, why dont you just call them + explain that your mom has dementia + does not have the means to pay this? If no one has POA, your mom, personally is the only party liable. They may just drop the whole thing.
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Commonly Used Abbreviations
DH = Dear Husband
DW= Dear Wife, Darling Wife
LO = Loved One
ES = Early Stage
EO = Early Onset
FTD = Frontotemporal Dementia
VD = Vascular Dementia
MC = Memory Care
AL = Assisted Living
POA = Power of Attorney
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