spouse died credit card not registered to my address must I pay the bill

philipsaveer

My spouse recently passed away and he had a affair for 13 years he had 2 credit cards one which at the time of his death was registered at the other address he was staying. I have just received the bill from the credit card company but as this card was registered at the other address he was residing I have not got any statements or the card it self.

So as it appears he was using this card for whatever else he was doing in his other life do I have to pay it when it is not registered to my address.

bris

No, you don't have to pay any of his sole debts. You will only become liable for any joint debts that you may have had together.
If there is an estate, the estate must pay it and any other debts, if no estate the debt dies with him.

Better_Off_1983

if you are not the registered card holder/primary holder I do not think you are liable

philipsaveer

bris wrote: »

No, you don't have to pay any of his sole debts. You will only become liable for any joint debts that you may have had together.
If there is an estate, the estate must pay it and any other debts, if no estate the debt dies with him.

Does that mean I have to sell my house to pay the debt?

CLAPTON

philipsaveer wrote: »

Does that mean I have to sell my house to pay the debt?

maybe a few facts might help

what are his debts

is there a will

was assets does he have
any life insurance policies
pension pay outs

how is the property owned
is it mortgaged

philipsaveer

CLAPTON wrote: »

maybe a few facts might help

what are his debts

is there a will

was assets does he have
any life insurance policies
pension pay outs

how is the property owned
is it mortgaged

The only debt is this credit card as far as we know.

yes there is a will everything was left to me.

he has no life insurance.

I get a pension from a pension he had.

We owned the property jointly and the mortgage has recently been completed so now I am the sole owner.

antrobus

philipsaveer wrote: »

The only debt is this credit card as far as we know.

yes there is a will everything was left to me.

...

Then it will be the responsibility of the executor of said will to pay the deceased's debts, which would include the balances outstanding on the two credit cards.

agrinnall

How much is the credit card debit?

Pensions normally fall outside the estate, unless it's mentioned in the will I would expect the pension payments to be unaffected by the debt.

I'm not sure about the house, I'm sure someone will know better than me but it's possible that as it was jointly owned it may also pass to you without forming part of the estate. However, if it does, then as sole beneficiary you will be responsible for the debt. It's extremely unlikely that the credit card company could force a sale to cover the debt, but they will still expect to be paid, so you may have to come to an agreemeny with them on a payment plan.

rochja

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/458014

From your previous posts it would appear that you have been the beneficiary of your husband's estate. Any money from that estate should have been used in the first instance to pay creditors. If there was not enough cash and shares etc to pay creditors the issue then becomes one of whether your husband had an interest in the house at the time of his death. If so then some of the comments in the thread I have referred you to become moot.

bris

Property is normally outside the estate and goes to the spouse so that should be safe, as is any life insurance policies and pensions set up with you as the beneficiary. Funeral cost's can also be paid first before including it in the estate. If you are the executor, a little professional help may be needed for guidance.

philipsaveer

antrobus wrote: »

Then it will be the responsibility of the executor of said will to pay the deceased's debts, which would include the balances outstanding on the two credit cards.

Right this now throws up the problem of that because the card is located at this woman's address and according to his credit report(which I checked after his death and finding out about the affair) he was also getting the statements sent there so I have no account number (which they require) and no card (which they say needs to be destroyed) so I have none of the required stuff that is needed (apart from the death certificate) to close the account down so she could be potentially spending on it and without the account number or the card I have no power to stop this.