Credit Card Debt After Death-An enlightement

Possibility of being guilty of credit card debt after death.

In general, credit card debts after death are not the responsibility of any heirs but paying the debt 

of a relative who recently died might feel like a moral obligation.Most people are not aware of the fact that they are not indebted to credit card companies after the death of their relatives provided that they were only authorized users of the credit card. Sometimes creditors will call or send threatening letters demanding payment from family members after a relative dies. If you receive these calls, ignore the calls until you have found out that you are indeed responsible for the debt. Tell the collections agent to send you a copy of the original contract with your signature to prove that you are indeed indebted to them.

Ways of being guilty of credit card debt after death

1. Joint cardholders

If you are a joint card holder, it means that you co-signed for the credit card, you are liable for the debt. If you as a parent co-sign credit card with your child and the child dies , the parent will definitely pay the debt. Also, co-signing of credit card with your husband or wife will put one of the couples in trouble after the death of one of them. The only thing that can save you is to be an authorize user of the card and not a co-signer.

Better still, you must endeavor to check your status before death sets in because at times, you may not be aware that you are using a joint account. This you must be sure of in order to save your ass.

2. Using a credit card after death could cause trouble for you

As an authorized user, you will be playing with a serious trouble if you continue to make use of credit card after the death of the cardholder. This is a criminal offence because you know too well that the debt will not be paid. Also, if you know that a parent is near death and the estate is not enough to pay off the debt, the children will be committing fraud if they continue to use the card.

3. You are liable in a divorce

Divorce is sometimes such a complicated affair, that this can be frequently overlooked. The separation agreement may specify that the ex-spouse should pay the debt but if it is not done before death takes the ex-spouse, you could be responsible for the debt because the debt is still unpaid.

WHO THEN PAYS CREDIT CARD DEBT AFTER DEATH

1. Using the estate to pay off the debt

The debt of the deceased are the responsibility of the estate and are first deducted from the estate’s assets before being distributed based on priority. The beneficiaries of the estate sometimes lose everything especially when the debt is hefty.

2. Credit card company loses

In the case whereby the estate is not enough to pay off the debt, the credit card company will have to write off the debt. This implies that no member of the family is liable to pay the debt.

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Good luck!