What to do about the credit card debt of a deceased spouse?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
What to do about the credit card debt of a deceased spouse?
My mother recently passed away and she had a 12k balance and at a very high interest rate of 26%. My father was not on the account and was unaware of the balance until now. My mom’s death was unexpected and the medical bills were huge so my father has more bills then money. He notified the credit card company and they gave him 3 choices: Take over the debt at the exisitng rate of interest; take over debt at 0% interest and monthly payments of 2% of the balance until it is paid off; or let the debt go to settlement the department and they can work a settlement out, however, not sure what that would be and once offered the other 2 options end.
Asked on January 31, 2011 under Estate Planning, Wisconsin
Answers:
M.T.G., Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
I am so sorry for your loss. Generally speaking, if your father was not on the original credit card agreement that your Mother signed - in other words he did not open the account with her - then he is not responsible for the credit card debt upon her death. This is true even if he was an additional card holder on the account. So please, do not let the credit card company bully him in any way to pay it off at this time. Technically your Mother's estate is responsible for the debt. But if all assets were jointly held then they passed to your Father by what is called "operation of law" when she passed on and there is no real estate to speak of. If the credit card company continues to call and ask to settle the debt ask them to send a copy of the original agreement evidencing his signature. And then get some legal help with all of this. Good luck.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.