by Tricia
A reader found my site by asking that question in a search engine. It got me wondering, though, what will happen to our debt if either me or my husband passes away? It’s not a fun thing to think about, but the more I thought about it…the more I had to find out the answer.
I did some searching on the web, and here’s what I’ve come up with.
If I passed away, my husband is in no way obligated to pay off the debt that is only in my name. Now, there is one credit card that we have that is a joint account. In that case, my husband would be obligated to pay that debt because his name is on the account as well. At the moment, our debt is separated (except for the mortgage) and at least the credit card debt is split between us fairly evenly.
What the creditors will do, however, is go after my estate (assets will be sold) to pay the debt in my name. Things here get a little fuzzy. It appears that creditors can go after 1/2 of our house because it is in both of our names. This is where many sites (myself included :)) will say to consult an estate lawyer.
So, in general, it looks like family members cannot be held liable for another family member’s debt when they die unless there is a joint account. But the cards will go after the estate.
Things are different for those married in community property states. I was able to find one little snippet for those that live in community property states. It looks like in those instances the surviving spouse can be held liable for the other spouse’s credit card debt regardless of if their name is on the account.
After learning about this, I guess I feel a little bit better knowing more, but really I don’t know that much more. Something as simple as credit card debt can get pretty complicated after death with going after an estate and personally it’s not something I would like to put my husband through. I guess this can just add to the motivation to just get that debt paid off! 😉
NOTE: Please, please, please, if you ever find yourself in the situation where a loved one dies, make sure you contact someone who really understands the law in this situation. What I have written above is information I have found from other websites and is a general overview. None of the other websites appear to have their text written by lawyers. As for me, I’m pretty far from a lawyer LOL.
Here’s where I found some info: Ask Metafilter, The Dollar Stretcher, Home Loan Learning Center.
