Mike died (basically) homeless, unemployed and in major debt (mostly from law school loans). We were separated and going through a divorce.

I certainly didn’t want, nor feel responsible for, his bills.

I worked for months talking to his various creditors, explaining that there wasn’t an estate and the bills would not be paid. I thought everything was taken care of.

On Saturday, I received a notice in Mike’s name from a collection agency for one of his credit cards. There was an 866-number and “Mike” was instructed to call the number immediately.

I dialed my cell phone on my way to the grocery store. “Damn it!” I thought. “This is all taken care of.”

I knew I had talked to this particular creditor MONTHS ago. In fact, I knew the last notice with my notes on the conversation was filed with his other bills (and their notes).

I told the woman who answered that I was calling on behalf of my late husband and that I was pretty sure they had written off the debt several months ago.

“Of course,” she said. “We just want to make sure there’s no change to his status.”

“Um, his status?” I asked. “His status is dead. January 25, 2012. Dead. Do you get many status changes from death?”

“Well you never know,” she answered. I could hear her fingers clicking on her computer keyboard.

“Nope, I’m fairly certain the death status is pretty final,” I responded. “Is that all you need? Just to make sure he’s still dead?”

“That’s all,” she responded. “Thank you for calling and we’re sorry for your loss.”

WTF? Not sure if I’m being scammed, but I’m really starting to dislike credit collectors.