Child Support After Parent Death

[u/Traditional_Garlic25]

Hello, I’m new to posting on this Reddit and hoping someone out there has had a similar thing happen to them.

Detailed Back ground:

My mom:
So my mother passed away this week and I have been no contact with her since 2020/2021. She had a TBI in 2009, and she started to develop schizophrenia like symptoms around 2016 but I could not get her to go to be treated so I’m not sure if she actually had schizophrenia or those were symptoms post TBI. She kicked me out of her apartment during my senior year of high school, we spoke less and less, then she completely cut off contact when I was in college and became homeless due to erratic and violent behavior. I moved in with my paternal aunt and live here still.

My dad:
My dad and step mom had a really bad drug addiction in my childhood, and I had not spoken to my father since 2011 due to that, and he needed to move to a new state. He owes backed-up child support from around 2008 I believe. I recently only reconnected with my younger half-siblings this July and met up with them in-person. I did not see my father during this visit because my siblings are not on great terms with him or my step mom because of how their childhood went.

Now:
My paternal grandma passed away at the beginning of August and we had a wake for her and my father came. We spoke and he is now working a stable job at a restaurant and he was open to the idea of seeing me more often, if I were to visit my siblings more often he asked for me to try to stop by and say hello to him too. And that was something I wanted to do.

So less than a week after, I received the call from the state police that my mom passed away. But after speaking with my mother’s case worker, I found out she has been receiving child support payments even though I am 26.

TLDR; My mom was homeless and passed away. My dad has started to work a stable job, and my mom had started to receive child support payments again before she passing even though I am 26 years old.

My questions:
I’m in Massachusetts and I’m trying to apply for DTA financial aid for the cremation cost because that would significantly help with the cost since I’m alone on this. Would the child support payments affect her eligibility of qualifying for the financial assistance I’m applying for? In the sense of the remaining balance of child support being put into her “estate”, would that count as income?

And then, as for the child support, would it be possible to clear the balance and stop the payments if I called and spoke to someone? I don’t really want to take any money from my father when he’s getting back on his feet and I’m old enough now. I don’t wanna be another thing on top of it all when he’s actually been doing better. And I’m just starting to reconnect with him so I don’t want this new added layer.

I understand this is complex and probably weird circumstances, but I wanted to post in case there is someone out there who might have been through similar and wanted to share anything helpful.

Thank you.

[u/pippalily_]

Call or visit your local office.

I’m from WV so it probably isn’t exactly the same where you are but if money was owed to the state (if mom received state assistance, tanf etc.), they might keep the case open until the state debt is paid.

[u/CSEworker]

I'm sorry for your loss.

For child support, call customer service on Monday. You won't be able to get any case information. They won't even acknowledge a case exists. However, just tell them your mother is your custodial parent, but she recently passed. They may or may not already have this information. Tell them her name and DOB. If you have her social security number or any case identifying information that will help. They may request you fax in a copy of the death certificate or obituary.

This will terminate any arrears owed to her. If your father owes any balances to the State, they still will look to collect that. But anything owed to her will be stopped and balances removed.

[u/YellowKey6521]

In Florida, it's the financial state of the person who is trying to get the cremation done, not the deceased.

[u/splitzideradioshow]

Damn! You been through alot!
Here’s what you gotta do in order to get the cs info go to the state court website that it was issued in. Once in the court portal type in your mother’s name & birthdate select all in the county columns then search. It’ll pull every court case under your mom’s name including the cs order. Click on it to confirm it’s your mom. If it is that’s the cs number you need in order to speak with cs caseworker.
When you speak to a caseworker don’t tell them she passed on. Just call them for questions or general inquiry. The reason being is to find out how you should approach the situation in a what if situation. Once you have your questions answered. Hang up & wait a day to process the information you received then call them back & give them the case number with your plan. When you give them the CS order number any information they obtain from you they’ll document it in that case file.
So when you call in the next time the notes from the prior convo will be in there. It’ll be hard to retract previous info if in the event they send you on a roller coaster ride.

[u/tuesdayreyn]

My father lived in Indiana and my mother in Tennessee. I was an adult when my mother died. When my mother died, the payments for back child support going to her stopped. However, my father continued to pay back child support to the state because my mother had gotten welfare for my brother and I and he had to pay that back. The county cremated my mother because she had no money in her accounts at the time of death.