Need help searching for something

[andreame70]

Hey guys, I need your help searching for something.

Last night, my DH was talking to his Mom up in Illinois. She asked him for money and said that the State of Illinois has garnished her wages for a $15,000 tax bill that my husbands Father owed in back taxes. She says she is about to lose her truck and her apartment.

My Father in law died in 2001 and at the time of his death, there was never any claim against his estate for these taxes. He never spoke to any of his kids about owing any back taxes either.

My MIL is an alcoholic and has a terrible habit of lying about everything. I can recall at least 6 times in the last 2 years that she has accused someone of breaking into her truck and stealing all of her money. Most recently, she did this two days before Christmas and cried to everyone about how she could not buy the grandkids anything because of it. People gave her money and the grandkids up there still didn't get anything from her. Never once did she ever file a police report for any of these "alleged" thefts. She is constantly placing blame on others in order to get people to feel sorry for her. We have sent her money in the past to catch up on her bills, but instead of paying them, she stuffed the money into poker machines at the bar and lost it.

Evidently her angle this week is to go around town and tell everyone that will listen about this "alleged" tax burden that her husband has left her with. I realize that I may sound very uncaring about this and the truth of the matter is I probably am. We have tried on so many occasions to help her, but she refuses to see she has a problem with her drinking and gambling. We have done all we can.

My husband wants to know the truth about this and he has asked me to try and find the "delinquent taxpayer list" from Illinois. I am pretty confident that I already know the truth, but he wants proof. I have searched google and the State of IL tax website without much success. I can find tons of things that describe this public list, but I have yet to find the actual list of names. If any of you can help me, please let me know. I would greatly appreciate it.

Andrea

[buttrfli]

Your DH can call the IRS and ask them directly. He will need his fathers information (SSN b-say etc) but they should tell you.

You can also check the courthouse where your FIL resided and see if there are any court claims against him. I imagine its rare for the IRS to wait this long to try to get back taxes. I suppose it can happen, but they are usually one of the first notified of a death.

[missboots]

Sorry I can't help you on this one but next time she asks help on her bills, I would call the company directly asking them about it and see if she is behind and find out how you can send a check or MO toward her bill. If she asks for money for food, get her a GC to her local store. I wish you the best with this problem.

[iowakat]

Why not ask your MIL to send you a copy of the tax bill. If you refuses, don't give her any money. If you do want to help I think missboots had a good suggestion about paying the bills directly. I don't think a GC would help; she'd just sell it.

[pepperpot]

Your DH can call the IRS and ask them directly. He will need his fathers information (SSN b-say etc) but they should tell you.
You can also check the courthouse where your FIL resided and see if there are any court claims against him. I imagine its rare for the IRS to wait this long to try to get back taxes. I suppose it can happen, but they are usually one of the first notified of a death.

The IRS will NOT tell you unless you have power of attorney for his estate. I called one day to straighten something out for my husband and I had all his information (we are happily married, not estranged) and the IRS would not release nor would they confirm any information. It was only until that I proved that I was on the documentation that they would even entertain confirming any information regarding 'his' account. So I am extremely doubtful that they would give out any information.

My suggestion is for you offer to help out your MIL with her problem with the IRS and ask her to show/give you the notice from the IRS. If in fact they are hounding her, there would be more than one (probably a drawer full) of notices.

Good luck.

[killbarney]

I hate to tell your MIL, but asking others for help with a tax bill she claims she owes is, if I'm not mistaken, considered fraud on a federal level if she doesn't actually owe those taxes.

If you(or anyone else actually) continues to give her money it's enabling her to continue on her self-destructive behavior. Parents have to do it all the time-it's called tough love.

[PJDancer]

i agree with pepper, the irs will not give out info unless you are power of attourney. also, companies that she owes bills to will not discuss her account with you either unless she has given them written or verbal permission for them to do so with you. this is the law.

my advice is to stop giving her money, period. otherwise, she will never stop asking.

[LuvBigRip]

First, if it is a State tax, the IRS wouldn't have anything to do with it.

You can call the State treasurer and see if they make delinquent tax rolls public. Some states do and public the list once a year in the newspaper.

http://www.state.il.us/treas/

I agree that the best bet is to request a copy of the bill or a copy of the wage garnishment request if the records are not public.

[andreame70]

Thanks for the replies and the suggestions. First, let me say that we don't intend under any circumstances to send her anything. We have been down that road a few times over the last 10 years and after the last episode, when our hard earned money went into a poker machine, we decided right then that it would never happen again. My DH asked his brother to follow her and that check went straight from her PO box, to the bank to cash, and then to the bar, where the poker machine ate it all.

I think more than anything, my DH wants to know the truth about this bill so he can call her out on it to her face. We are flying up there to visit his family in April and DH is livid at her for dragging his deceased father's name through the mud all over town, over something that is probably not even true.

Right now, we are the last people that could afford to send her any money, even if we would. The engine just blew up in my car last week and we are putting in a new one which is costing us almost $3K. We are lucky that we have already paid for our plane tickets and rental car to go up there in April, or else this $3K setback on the engine would have stopped the trip dead in it's tracks.

I think that my DH wants to know for sure about this debt because if it indeed is something that his Dad owes, then he would want to work with whomever it is owed to, in order to clear his Dad's debt. My DH is just that kind of guy. Now if it is something that his Mom owes, DH says she can swim in it. He has done more than his fair share of trying to save her, but you can't save someone who constantly wants to drown. More than anything, DH wants to know for sure about this "alleged" debt because if she is using the pretense of his father owing this debt in order to swindle people out of money, then he is ready to face her with it when we go up there. Dh's father was an honest, hard working man who loved his kids and provided well for his family all of his life. He was a highly decorated serviceman in the army and served three tours in Vietnam. He was even a four time recipient of the purple heart, I kid you not. We have his medals in a display case here at home. His memory deserves more honor than this!

Don't you just love all of the drama? Thank God we don't live any closer to her or this would be something we would have to deal with everyday.

Andrea

[killbarney]

Good luck.