ma died and I found large credit card balances,no statements showing

[maveric]

activity. Just late charges.
She told me that she wasnt having money troubles and had sizeable annuities that she could have tapped into. The only statement thatifound show the large balances but not activty history. There are gapsin the statement dates, and there isnothingto showfor these balances. She was pretty much a shut-in. Hardly ever went out and never bought anything. She was on the east coast living alone and I live on the west coast. There's also jewelery unaccounted for and I CANT FIND ANY OF HER CREDIT CARDS!
WTF!
Should I contact the card companies and then call the cops?Her brother lives back here and I hear that he has been having $$$$$ troubles. One of his grown kids has hada history of gambling problems and another of his minor kids
seemd a bit withdrawn at the services.This is freaking me out!

[Swede]

1. Freeze all her accounts.

Sounds like someone is doing something bad. Freeze them and let the authorities sort this out.

[fujiyama]

2. That's awful

Is it possible it wasn't just interest that accumulated over the years because of unpaid bills?

Otherwise, I'd first contact the card companies, close the accounts, and get copies of all active stataements for the cards. Then based on that, possibly contact the cops.

[Renew Deal]

3. Cancel all her accounts.

She won't be using them anyway. Then go from there.

[maveric]

4. I'm now suspecting foul-play in her death.

She lives in a small town, Salem NH, pop. 32,000. The cops around here are laxed.
Ma was found dead, on the flor of her bedroom, in bed clothes, monday evening. She apparently fell and hit her head after having either a diabetic episode or an anuerysm. She's had health problems in the past and the EMT's wrote it up as "natural causes". No autopsy, no cops at all. My uncle, one the ones I'm leery about found her after my neighbor called him,when she wouldnt answer her door or phone for hours. This town does and always has had a "good old boy" system. Uncle is friends with many top cops from the Elks club. He is always over here too, and credit card statements are missing as well as the cards and jewelery.Do I sound paranoid, or do i have a legitimate concern?

[Lex]

5. Legitimate concern.

Contact the police again. Asked to speak to a detective.

Tell them that jewelry is missing. That'll get their attention.

Freeze the credit cards--ask the cops to help you get info on the activity on those cards right away.

Freeze the checking accounts and ask for activity statements on those.

[welshTerrier2]

6. perhaps you should bypass the cops

and contact the AG's office ...

in MA, where i live, we've had some experience with ID theft that involved some fraudulent credit card activity ... the local cops did virtually nothing ... the AG's office was fantastic ... they eventually caught the bad guys ...

i wouldn't level any specific accusations until you have all the facts ... no need to strain relationships or tip off the bad guys if they're guilty ... if you don't have "power of attorney" or you're not the executor of her estate, you should be talking to a lawyer to get the necessary help gaining access to her records ...

so sorry to hear about your mom's death ...

[OldLeftieLawyer]

8. First, get an attorney

I'm assuming your Mom died without a will, right?

If that's the case, quickly - I mean, MONDAY - hire the best local attorney you can find, and get yourself appointed administrator of her estate. That will give you the authority you'll need to proceed in order to investigate any of her financial matters.

Talk to the cops. Have the lawyer talk to the cops. I trust there was an autopsy. Have the results turned over to the police.

Good luck.

[Historic NY]

7. Who signed the death certificate?

If its an unattended death an autopsy is usually ordered unless the attending physician agrees to sign the death certificate. If there is no obvious sign of foul play the cops usually would call the coroner or Me, who would then pronounce the deceased. If the cops didn't even show up then it had to be handled by her physician and the ME/coroners office.