Does credit card debt have to be repaid after the death of the cardholder?

Answer 1

the estate (what happens to the assets and debts of the deceased) is responsible for the payment of debts and distribution of assets.

A creditor can file a claim against the estate requesting repayment, if after the claim period passes there are sufficient assets in the estate (cash or property sold to convert to cash), the creditors will be paid.

If there is more money that creditors, all the creditors are paid in full and what is left over gets paid out to the heirs as stipulated in the will or if there is no will in accordance with the laws of the state.

If there is less money than debt, the creditors are arranged in order:
Priority claims (usually the mortuary)
Tax claims (yup, even death you can't escape the tax man)
secured debt (usually the collateral is repossessed and sold making that debt unsecured)
unsecured debt (credit cards, utility bills and the like)
at that point the money is paid out, in order, until it is all gone.

Please note that unless an heir or survivor is a cosigner or coborrower on and account, in 99% of the situations they are NOT responsible for the debts of the deceased.

Answer 2

Absolutely it does. Sometimes the cardholder will have life insurance on the card but if not estate will be responsible for the debt.

Answer 3

Yes, the cardholder's estate will be responsible for the balance. If there is insufficient funds in the cardholder's estate, then tough luck for the credit card company.

Answer 4

When my mother passed away her estate was indebted by one of her credit cards the other card never contacted the estate so therefore wasn't paid ...so yes they can still make you pay in some instances

Answer 5

Yes. The executor of the estate is responsible for paying any outstanding debts.

TX Mom