Questions & Answers

My wife and I have just become agents under a power of attorney for her parents. They are both in their late sixties, and her mother has just been diagnosed with terminal cancer. We moved them into a retirement home so her mother can get the extra help she needs. After gaining access to their finances, we've discovered that her father has accumulated over $100,000 in credit card debt spread among several cards. We purchased their home, and they recently sold some land that was in a trust. Her mother just transferred to my wife a 25 percent interest in a farm, held with several other family members. They have approximately $50,000 in their bank account, and $20,000 in a 401(k), but otherwise have no further assets or income outside of Social Security. If they continue to pay their credit card minimums, they'll exhaust their entire savings at the end of next year and won't be able to pay their rent. At this point, is there anything we can do to settle the credit card debt? Can they walk away from it? We have no idea what options we have and are incredibly overwhelmed.

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