Europe’s Financial Crisis Leads to Suicide Surge
The harsh spending cuts introduced by European governments to tackle their crippling debt problems have not only pitched the region into recession — they are also being partly blamed for outbreaks of diseases not normally seen in Europe and a spike in suicides according to the AP.
The report goes on to say that the “worsening health was driven not just by unemployment, but by the lack of a social welfare system to fall back on. People need to have hope that the government will help them through this difficult time”.
I think that it is “nice” to have public assistance programs available for the truly needy. There is however something inherently wrong with these social programs. I believe these programs promote government dependency.
A growing dependency of government is what got us into so many of our problems, and what is our own government doing? They are promoting that very dependency. Instead of raising people up, we are keeping them down. We are creating a generational dependency on social programs.
According to the 2012 Index of Dependence on Government more people than ever before—67.3 million Americans, from college students to retirees to welfare beneficiaries—depend on the federal government for housing, food, income, student aid, or other assistance.
Once considered to be the responsibility of individuals, families, neighborhoods, churches, and other civil society institutions, Americans are looking to the government to take care of them.
The ethic of self-reliance joined with a promise to the brotherly care of those in need appears threatened, well nearly absent in today’s society. There was a time, before all of the social programs, when people took care of each other. If you were having trouble the first thing you did was —anything you could — to get back on your feet.
There was no sitting around waiting for the government to come to the rescue. Your church, or family or friends helped out, and you helped others when they were in need. We took care of ourselves without a dependency on the government.
Our social programs including Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are unsustainable in their current form.
Over the next 25 years, more than 77 million baby boomers will begin collecting Social Security checks, drawing Medicare benefits, and relying on long-term care under Medicaid. There will be no event so financially challenging to these programs over the next two decades than this shift of boomers into retirement.
More than 70% of Federal spending goes to dependency programs.
With so many Americans on or soon to be on the government dole and nearly half of all Americans not paying income taxes, there is no way we can pay for all of this and our spending will spiral out of control (it’s almost there now). With an increase in recipients and a decrease in the number of workers left paying for these programs, we will soon reach our fiscal tipping point much as other countries have already, and this will put us in a certain domestic debt crisis of our own.
In doing research for this article I have found no evidence that Americans are suffering a rise in medical ailments and suicides. But we have not quite reached the same crippling financial problems as our friends across the pond.
…but trust me when I tell you, it’s coming.
Debt after Death . . . Who Pays?
After a relative dies, the last thing grieving family members want are calls from debt collectors asking them to pay a loved one’s debts. As a rule, those debts are paid from the deceased person’s estate.
According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency, family members typically are not obligated to pay the debts of a deceased relative from their own assets.
What’s more, family members – and all consumers – are protected by the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), which prohibits debt collectors from using abusive, unfair, or deceptive practices to try to collect a debt.
Under the FDCPA, a debt collector is someone who regularly collects debts owed to others. This includes collection agencies, lawyers who collect debts on a regular basis, and companies that buy delinquent debts and then try to collect them.
Does a debt go away when the debtor dies?
No. The estate of the deceased person owes the debt. If there isn’t enough money in the estate to cover the debt, it typically goes unpaid. But there are exceptions to this rule.
You may be responsible for the debt if you:
• co-signed the obligation;
• live in a community property state, such as California;
• are the deceased person’s spouse and state law requires you to pay a particular type of debt, like some health care expenses; or
• were legally responsible for resolving the estate and didn’t comply with certain state probate laws.
If you have questions about whether you are legally obligated to pay a deceased person’s debts from your own assets, talk to a lawyer.
Who has the authority to pay the deceased person’s debt out of his or her assets?
The person named in a will who is responsible for settling a deceased person’s affairs is called the executor.
If there is no will, the court may appoint an administrator, personal representative, or universal successor, and give them the authority to settle the affairs. In some states, others (or other people) may have that authority, even if they haven’t been formally appointed by the court.
Whom may a debt collector talk to about a deceased person’s debt?
Under the FDCPA, collectors can contact and discuss the deceased person’s debts with that person’s spouse, parent(s) (if the deceased was a minor child), guardian, executor, or administrator.
Also, the FTC permits collectors to contact any other person authorized to pay debts with assets from the deceased person’s estate. Debt collectors may not discuss the debts of deceased persons with anyone else.
If a debt collector contacts a deceased person’s relative, what can they talk about? Collectors are allowed to contact third parties (such as a relative) to get the name, address, and telephone number of the deceased person’s spouse, executor, administrator, or other person authorized to pay the deceased’s debts. Collectors usually are permitted to contact such third parties only once to get this information.
The main exception is if a collector reasonably believes that the information provided initially was inaccurate or incomplete, and that the third party now has more accurate or complete information. But, collectors cannot say anything about the debt to the third party.
Even if I am authorized to pay a deceased person’s debt, can I stop a debt collector from contacting me about the debt?
Yes. To exercise this right, you must send a letter to the collector stating that you do not want the collector to contact you again. A telephone call is not enough.
Make a copy of your letter for your files, send the original by certified mail, and pay for a “return receipt” so you can document what the collector received and when.
Once the collector gets your letter, he cannot contact you again except to confirm that there will be no further contact or that he or the creditor plans to take a specific action, like filing a lawsuit to collect the debt. Keep in mind that even if you stop collectors from communicating with you, you are still responsible for the debt.
For Complaints and More Information
Report any problems you have with a debt collector to your state Attorney General’s office at naag.org and the Federal Trade Commission at ftccomplaintassistant.gov.
Many states have their own debt collection laws that are different from the federal FDCPA.
Your Attorney General’s office can help you determine your rights under your state’s law.
For more information about debt collection and additional rights provided under the FDCPA, see Debt Collection FAQs: A Guide for Consumers and visit ftc.gov/MoneyMatters, which offer shortpractical tips, videos, and links to reliable sources on topics like credit repair, debt collection,job-hunting and job scams, vehicle repossession, managing mortgage payments and foreclosurerescue scams.
The FTC works to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop and avoid them. To file a complaint or get free information on consumer issues, visit ftc.gov or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261.
Watch a video, How to File a Complaint, at ftc.gov/video to learn more. The FTC enters consumer complaints into the Consumer Sentinel Network, a secure online database and investigative tool used by hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.
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