what to do about debt when someone dies?

Answer 1

If you inherit a house with a mortgage to pay, you inherit the mortgage debt along with it. However, you personally are not responsible for a deceased's credit card debt unless you are a co-signor to the account. Credit card debt is paid off as much as possible through the estate, but beyond that, you have no obligation, and your credit score is not affected one way or the other.

Answer 2

There are different situations to this question. Many countries have enacted laws and so there are no general answers to this question.

Following are the situations I can think of and remedies normally followed by Courts across the world however procedures and processes could be different.

Firstly if the deceased left a will, then the will needs to be registered in a court and the heir to the will gets the estate and the debt. Normally the Court invites objections and dispose of the will in favour of the heir.

If will is not left, the heir to the estate would be the next of kin i.e., wife, son/s, daughters, father, mother and so on. Please note that the estate includes both assets and liabilities. The distant the relation difficult for the creditor to make a case against the heir.

If the debt is supported by a guarantor then the creditor can sue and get his money from the guarantor after realising the estate of the deceased if any.

If it's a unsecured credit, the creditor first needs to prove that he's made payment to the deceased in a Court and identify assets of the deceased and can lay claim on it.

If the debt is secured against certain assets then the estate will not go the legal heir or next of kin, the creditor can claim the secured assets thru' a Court.

In many countries registration of will is not compulsory. In countries like India, the joint family system is very strong and creates problem when the head of family dies without leaving a registered will. Sometimes, there would be more than one unregistered will. Normally will must be dated and the latest will of the deceased would be considered legal by a Court.

The problems for the creditor arise when the value of estate is less than the value of debt.

Few Welfare States have enacted laws wherein the govt takes care of the debt of the deceased if the estate is insufficient.

If there is a will but next of kin is not tracable, the govt must take all possible steps to find the next of kin and handover the estate.

Again if there is no will, the next of kin is not immediately tracable, again the govt requires to take all possible steps to find the next of kin.

In these two cases, if the govt could not trace the next of kin, then it will have to approach a Court that will decide how to dispose the estate and debt.

Answer 3

'm not a lawyer and one should be consulted in this situation, but this is how I understand it.

When someone dies, the estate pays any debts the deceased had when he or she died. If the estate is less than what is owed, the creditors are paid a percentage of the debt to what the estate can cover. Also, the estate gets any monies owed to the deceased when he/she died.

If there is a will, it should be followed and the estate distributed accordingly. If there is no will, the next of kin gets the estate.

Again, I'm no lawyer, but the state should not get the deceaseds assets unless there is valid, legal reason. Just because the person didn't leave a will does not mean that the state gets the assets. The state may determine who of the relatives gets what percentage of the estate, but the state doesn't bet any beyond normal taxes.

Answer 4

Debts are paid from the deseased estate before the remainder is paid out to beneficiaries. This is true weather there is a will or not. A will simply directs who the beneficiaries are and in absense of a will the estateis distributed to beneficiaries based on the state's formula. If there are insufficient assets to pay the debts, the creditor does not have to be paid unless the debt is securred by an asset in the estate or if there is another person also signed on for this debt.

Answer 5

You are not responsible for someone elses debts. Husband and wives aren't either. Unless both signed for the debt. Credit cards are not the responsibility of someone else either. Even the spouse doesn't have to pay. If there is an estate, the estate would have to pay for the debts.

Answer 6

If anyone is on the account or debt with the deceased, that person is responsible for the debt such as a cosigner or ect.

If noone is on the account with the deceased and the only person on that account was them, the debt dies with the account holder and the company, or business has to eat that debt.

Answer 7

If a will was left, the heir/s is responsible for paying the debt/s before receiving any benefits. Without a will, the state gets the assets, which are usually sold off in an estate sale. If you know of someone in this situation, it is best to get a will and see an attorney.

Answer 8

If there was a co-signer on any of the debt, that person will be left responsible for paying off the debt. If no other party is involved, your estate (cash or cash as a result of sale of your assets) would pay off the debt first, and if there was any money leftover, it would go to your family or whoever you left your estate to.

Answer 9

If you are talking about credit card debt and your name is not on the debt then just tell them they have died. You are not responsible for credit card debt from family members as long as your name is not on the card and/or contract. Don't let them scare you into paying.

Answer 10

well, when my neighbour died, my debts were still there

could you be more specific

are you talking about the deceased's debts
are the debts more than the value of his assets
are there any co-creditors or co-signors