Recent Death need help

[miniwhinne]

Last monday my husband passed away. He left me knowing nothing about our financial matters. He worked for Qwest and I am a bit lost on what exactly I am supposed to be doing. He had two insurance policies with them but they are telling me that because he died before he retired that I now get none of his pension that he has been paying into for 27 years? Also he belonged to the union until 7 years ago and I would assume there are some retirement bennies there too. We have contacted his credit card folks and let them know about his death and that we will be paying the accounts that arn't insured as soon as the insurance money is paid. Vehicles are in both our names as is phone electric and house. I as his wife am the soul beneficiary. There is a will to that affect and power of attourney paperwork. They have frozen his bank accounts which makes it a bit hard to pay any bills ect. I also wonder about his social security? I guess I am just looking for some guidence as to what to do. It is all so confusing. Thanks Melissa

 

[miniwhinne]

One more thing

My husband that recently passed away died of cancer. For three months we kept complaining to the oncologist about a chronic pain he had as well as rapid weight loss. The oncologist passed us off several times to his pa who patted my hubby on the head and sent him away with more pain meds. He continued to have pain and weight loss. I suggested a few things to the doc ct and pet scan as well as endoscopy. They did these with no results. Continued with the same pats on the head that chemo would help. It didn't so we went over his head to our original surgeon who was horrified to see the emaciation of my husband as he neared starvation mode. He immediately suggested a feeding tube(which the oncologist never mentioned)and exploratory to see what the cause of pain was. The surgery revealed a huge tumor in the bowel which was removed with a large portion of bowel. Due to the already compromised state with my hubbys weight it was very risky surgery and he did make it through. But just didnt bounce back. In the initial consult with the surgeon I expresssed my displeasure at how the oncologist seemed too busy to listen to us as we knew something was wrong. He gave the excuse that the oncologist was the only GI oncologist and was overworked with too many patients. Is that our fault and we were neglected and things missed because of it? Just curious how hard it would be to prove negligence in this situation.Worth pursuing so no one else has to deal with this. Melissa

 

[lwpat]

Go down to the probate court immediately and file the will and have the court name you as the personal representative. Take the PR letter to the bank and get the money out of the accounts and place them in an estate account. Then send the union and Qwest certifed letters along with the PR letter asking for information on his insurance and pensions.

The POA expired with his death.

You can get a copy of all his medical info and then consult with an attorney. Only after reviewing all the records can someone tell you if you might have a claim. These types of cases are hard to win.