I live in California. Both my mother in law and my brother in law died leaving debts. When we went to the bank with the death certificate they try to get the survivors to pay the debt. But I asked if we were required by law to do so.

Then they sheepishly said “No”. They couldn’t even transfer the money he had in his checking account to apply it to the loan. So they asked if we would authorize that. Mother in law, same story.

They leave it up to you to know your rights. So make sure you ask what the laws in your state are.

My mother died in 2017 owning a nice sized estate, not wealthy but a very decent net worth. As executor I called the credit card company to pay off her balance, which she hadn’t done the last few months of her life. They went out of their way to tell me I didn’t have to pay it off.

I even told them I’d be paying it out of her assets, not my own. We finally agreed that they would waive all of the late charges and interest and I would pay the principal. My mother would come back and wring my neck had I done otherwise.

At least in Texas, creditors have a specified length of time to file a claim against the estate. That is one of the advantages of going through probate. (There are certainly disadvantages as well, including cost and time).

Once the time period has passed, any future claims against the estate are barred. A “Notice to Creditors” is required to be sent as well as published in the “legal notices” in the paper. But you would be surprised how few credit card companies will even bother.

It’s less work just to charge it off. That’s one reason why their interest rates are so high, I guess.

No. In every jurisdiction that I am aware of, the estate of the deceased is the business of the deceased only.

The estate pays all of the debts that it can. The debts must be paid before any inheritors get their “share” If that does not repay all debts, then those debts are cancelled and written off. Surviving family are not liable for the debts of the estate