Inparent, to qualify for ACA subsidies, you have to make 100% of the poverty level, or for a single person about $17k per year. Less than that and no tax breaks, but if in a state that expanded medicaid, you get free insurance. I doubt these kids make that. Their health insurance through the parent should be good for 60 days or so, or at the least can be extended through cobra for that time without doing anything. Hopefully, the mother’s employer has an HR person who can tell them their options.
If they live in a state that extended medicaid, they’ll probably qualify for free insurance, or those under 18 can qualify for CHP+.
I didn’t say they would qualify for subsidies. My kid doesn’t, and those are our costs. The HR person at the parent’s work is only going to know about the (very expensive) COBRA option. Also, when my husband retired, we had to select COBRA by the end of the month if I remember right. We didn’t get 60 days (although death of an employee may be different).
I’d say you can offer to help with whatever they think they need. If Aunt is in charge, sit with her and ask if she wants you to keep a list of issues that need addressing, and if she wants help with it. It will be a long list of many little things. From probate to the house/mortgage, to the support and well being of the kids. She has also lost a sibling, and will be grieving. Maybe you can help sort through the details of sending death certs to those that need it (life insurance, work, creditors, etc) too.
The 21 year old, as odd as it sounds, should become guardian as soon as she can. It provides the best set of circumstances if they want to stay in the house. That may not be possible though.
It sounds like the kids will now be “independent”, and hopefully can get full FA, perhaps that will make it easier school wise. If they want to continue in school, they should. People process things differently. For some people, this would be a situation where they need something else to focus on.
What a heartbreaking thing for these kids. Life stinks sometimes. For the rest of us, some perspective on our own good fortune.
I’d say you can offer to help with whatever they think they need. If Aunt is in charge, sit with her and ask if she wants you to keep a list of issues that need addressing, and if she wants help with it. It will be a long list of many little things. From probate to the house/mortgage, to the support and well being of the kids. She has also lost a sibling, and will be grieving. Maybe you can help sort through the details of sending death certs to those that need it (life insurance, work, creditors, etc) too.
The 21 year old, as odd as it sounds, should become guardian as soon as she can. It provides the best set of circumstances if they want to stay in the house. That may not be possible though.
It sounds like the kids will now be “independent”, and hopefully can get full FA, perhaps that will make it easier school wise. If they want to continue in school, they should. People process things differently. For some people, this would be a situation where they need something else to focus on.
What a heartbreaking thing for these kids. Life stinks sometimes. For the rest of us, some perspective on our own good fortune.
Cobra law says 60 days from the event to elect cobra (loss of job, death of employee), and coverage reverts back to date of event. The employer may only contribute its portion of the permium for 30 days, but you can elect for 60 and covrrage goes back to the date of the event. HR people know a lot more than just about cobra. They know about other benefits the parent might be entitled to. Pensions, death benefits, a life insurance policy, 401k plans. They know what others who have left the company do for insurance.
Cobra is expensive because you are continuing what is usually good (even great) group insurance. You pay less for other policies because you get less. The employer was paying a good hunk of that premium.
But this family has a lot more to worry about. Insurance is just another item on the list. I suggest the oldestate child and the relative who is helping meet with the mother’s employer about insurance and other benefits, make an appointment with SSA to get benefits started, hire an accountant to get the taxes done, hire an estate attorney to get probate started. Follow the mail at this time of yeat. Tax statements will let them know about bank accounts, IRAs, 401ks. If the parents used a credit union, there is most likely a $1000 life insurance policy on the account (free from CU). Little things a probate attorney should know.
Under the ACA, it just isn’t true that you pay less to get less. Plans are much cheaper for young people under ACA – the premium difference for my college age kid is about $4,500 per year (less than COBRA), and the benefits/copays/etc are very, very similar. I used to work in healthcare billing, so know how to compare plans. It is silly to pay COBRA prices for kids.
Fortunately, they live in a state that expanded Medicaid. I don’t know about the will. The family owns an average-sized house, with I assume an average-sized mortgage and a few thousand dollars a year in property taxes. The mother worked for a public school district.
I haven’t talked to the relatives yet, but it is possible one or family members could move in with them, to help with the housing expenses and the emotional situation. It would be less disruptive if they could stay in their house.
In this particular situation, it is believed it would be best if the 21 year stayed in her college, but commuted from the family home. Fortunately, her college (and a community college for her brother in the fall) are each within commuting distance, and the family has two cars.
One fundraiser is already being successful and there are plans for a second one. The family is very popular in the community.
The fafsa in this situation will be confusing. I appreciate everyone’s thoughts.
Practical idea for people within the community is meal train - people can sign up to bring over meals. Ditto about grief support - therapy or grief support groups. If there is a hospice in town, there might be free support groups available, esp for the teens.
I have a colleague who was orphaned when she was 15 (her parents died in an auto crash) and she was the youngest of 4 children…I believe the 23-year-old became the guardian and somehow all 4 of them got through college, married, and have appeared to have happy lives. They are exceptionally close, as you would imagine.
What an exceptionally difficult situation – they are grieving the loss of the father so recently, and now the mother!
I just have one question – if the 21 y/o moves out of her college apartment, will she be able to get out of the lease? Is it owned by the college? She won’t want to be stuck with rental payments for it even if she moves back home.
I am so sorry. Lots of good asvice here. I have one thought that hasn’t been mentioned. If the mother was a teacher, there should be a union that could help. One or more teachers in the district will be union reps. Also, teachers and administrators usually have accumulated sick days that are worth money.
They also need to check for any auto-payments linked to credit cards. Close credit cards. Notify credit reporting agencies and voter registration. Notify BMV or DMV about death. Keep the mom’s account open for a while, until checks clear. If there is a safe deposit box, check that. First priority should be emotional support for the kids, then money (social security filing, life insurance), and health insurance. Check to see if mom had an outside life insurance policy outside of the one provided by work. Sorry this is so piecemeal.
Thanks to everyone. There is absolutely no shortage of food being dropped off. The good news is that an aunt (who is a very responsible person) is moving into the house, and selling her house. They also have two attorneys working to help sort things out.
You can’t just keep bank accounts open. The bank will clear any checks for, I think, 10 days and after that will close the account. Getting into the safe deposit box may require a probate letter. Checking on auto pay is a very good idea. Someone needs to do all this, and I think it is way too much for the kids to handle. Hopefully, a relative can help.
When my friend died 2 years ago, the saddest question I got was from the daughter who wanted to know if her mother had made hotel reservations for parents’ weekend at the college, and where. She had, and I knew where because we’d talked about it, so I was able to provide that information. There is just so much to do, so many little things the parents handled.
Unfortunately we had a similar situation in our family. The kids do get SS payments but only until they turn 18. They should get a lump sum payout from mom’s sick leave. If she had a pension plan through work the kids may get a lifetime monthly payment. The pension payments were substantial. The oldest may want to stay in school if possible I know returning to some sense of normalcy was helpful to the kids in our life. Having something to do each day and to get out of bed for was needed.
Lessons to be learned for everyone - keep your important records in a place where a responsible relative knows where they are, buy life insurance, line up a guardian, keep a list of automatic bill payments, pass on passwords to a spouse, etc.
Very similar problems arise when one spouse takes care of all of the finances and bills, and they pass away quickly, and the other spouse has no idea how to get into accounts or even where the accounts are. With so many financial transactions set up to automatically occur online, a surviving spouse or family member would have no idea what is happening because they would not even see notices in the mail.