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This article explains that as long as you didn't get a joint card, you're not reponsible for your spouse's or parent's cc balances even though collection agencies will do their best to convince you otherwise.
Experts say that unlike a mortgage or a car loan, credit card debt is unsecured, meaning that it isn’t tethered to an asset. When someone dies, credit card companies have to wait near the back of the line to receive payment. If what’s left over after settling the estate isn’t enough to pay the bill, credit card debt is written off.
Spouses, children or other loved ones don’t “inherit” credit card debt unless they co-signed the card. (If one owner of a joint credit card dies, the others automatically become responsible for the balance due.) How to dodge that bullet? Never use joint credit cards, said Stephen Silverberg, former president of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. If a card must be shared among family members, he said, one person should apply and sign for it, then add users afterward.
http://newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/10/who-pays-off-moms-credit-c...
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I wouldn't feel right about having any debt of my husband's written off just because I could, not because I couldn't pay it. We're a couple and 9 times out of 10 anything he bought would be something we would both get the benefit of. Assuming I could afford to, I would pay it.
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I wouldn't feel right about having any debt of my husband's written off just because I could, not because I couldn't pay it. We're a couple and 9 times out of 10 anything he bought would be something we would both get the benefit of. Assuming I could afford to, I would pay it.
That's all fine if you are in the position to do so. For families that aren't, being responsible for that debt could crush them completely on top of funeral expenses, not to mention the emotional and mental strain too.
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I wouldn't feel right about having any debt of my husband's written off just because I could, not because I couldn't pay it. We're a couple and 9 times out of 10 anything he bought would be something we would both get the benefit of. Assuming I could afford to, I would pay it.
That's all fine if you are in the position to do so. For families that aren't, being responsible for that debt could crush them completely on top of funeral expenses, not to mention the emotional and mental strain too.
Exactly. And I know in my heart that my husband would not want to see me struggling to pay a balance that I really couldn't afford to clear off completely in one shot if I didn't have to.
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The only solution then is to keep credit card balances low enough that you could if you had to. My sister-in-law's balance scares me and she doesn't lose a wink of sleep over it.
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It's funny how some people are like that isn't it greenmachine? My brother always maxes his out. Whatever his limit is, he spends right up to it. I try to think well ahead so I can foresee any problems and keep the balances at a sensible amount in case there is a true emergency we need to use the available balance for. I'd worry not just about the balance but that I couldn't use it if I had to.
I thought that if a couple had a joint card and one person died, their half of the balance would be written off. I don't know where I got that idea from!