Credit card debt after death

interstellaflyer

antrobus wrote: »

Unlikely that the credit card company will write it off. There is a house.

The OP hsn't mentioned a house, it may be rented, also, are credit cards secured on propety?

antrobus

interstellaflyer wrote: »

The OP hsn't mentioned a house, it may be rented, ...

The OP did mention a house.

YorkshirePoolie wrote: »

... From what I have read, the house transfers to him and so is now his estate.....

The implication is clear. And the OP has been back and hasn't contradicted the inference made.

interstellaflyer wrote: »

..also, are credit cards secured on propety?

On death, all debts become secured on the assets of the estate.

YorkshirePoolie

Hi,

Yes there is a house interstellaflyer, fully paid for- no mortgage. No debts are secured on it either.

Thanks

Battleaxe44

antrobus wrote: »

You committed fraud, since clearly there were assets in the estate (the shares) that should have been used to settle the debt.

I wouldn't advise anybody to commit fraud, even if it's easy to get away with it.:)

Your remark is offensive.

No, the shares did not come into the equation as these had been issued after his death by the comapny he worked for. These shares were part of his salary package, bought each month, issued to staff as part of shares in exchange for salary scheme.

Please be very careful. before you accuse anyone of committing fraud; this was handled by both the Company legal team and my legal advisor

Do you always put your mouth into gear before checking facts?

dotdash79

It sounds like that the insurance was in trust and that the only asset was the house.

In this case the credit card company would in most cases write off the amount owed. Be careful as they might try to get you to take on the debt but you shouldn't.

If your mum had a savings account then that should be used to pay the funeral and then the debt off. Might be worth offering a token payment from the estate.

mrs_T

This is very interesting, if you die with stoozed debt would it be written off or have to be repayed by executors from the bank accounts it was sitting in?

Twiggy_34

Sorry for your loss.

I'm not familiar with the finer details under these circumstances and was fortunate enough that my dad didn't have any debts when he passed away last year. However, what is relatively clear is that credit cards are unsecured debts, therefore I am inclined to go with the comments here that suggest the debts die with the debtor (the fact they are unsecured debts is part of the reason for typically extortionate interest rates). Certainly I believe I'm right when I say that the credit card company has absolutely no claim on any physical assets previously held by your mum, or now held by your dad.

I think your absolute best port of call is to see what the credit card company says, as you may find it's far more straightforward than anticipated. As executor for my dads estate it was stupid things I had issues with, in particular dealings with HMRC were by far the most taxing, pardon the pun.

Mojisola

YorkshirePoolie wrote: »

Thank you all, I will call the credit card company and have a chat with them and see where we stand.

Don't be guided by them. It's normal for these companies to pressurise families into paying the debt.

Just tell them that nothing has been sorted out at the moment and someone will be back in touch later on.

Faith177

Battleaxe44 wrote: »

When my late husband died, his credit card debt died with him. I sent the relevant paper work and the account was written off.

The Work insurance passed directly to me as did the house. He had a Will but as his Estate was below the limit it was never probated and dealt with informally.

The Shares he had were passed over to me. I had no problem selling them. it was done and dusted in six months.

The joint loans were another matter and involved mis-sold PPI. and another matter but I wont go into this here.

antrobus wrote: »

You committed fraud, since clearly there were assets in the estate (the shares) that should have been used to settle the debt.

I wouldn't advise anybody to commit fraud, even if it's easy to get away with it.:)

Antrobus the same thing happened to my mum when my dad died in 1991 as happened with Battleaxe.

In fact my mum originally paid the money to Barclaycard out of my dads life insurance. She then read an article in the Sunday Post about 5-6 months later saying that the debt dies with the person.

She wrote to Barclaycard and they refunded the full money plus a bit extra as a sorry

My dad died suddenly at 28 had no will and a fair bit of debt

redpete

A couple of people have said that "the debt dies with the debtor" without the necessary caveat "if there is nothing in the estate to pay off the debt".

If someone is not sure then they need to get advice from a qualified and independent person (i.e. not just someone you don't know on an anonymous forum, and not the company to whom the debt is owed).