Unsecured debt - father in law recently passed away

MTHAIN

Quick q:
My FIL passed away in Oct and left balance of £700 on a sole, unsecured credit card and MIL is now being chased to repay. Is she liable for this?

Background:
They have a house which was jointly owned by there were no other assets in the estate eg no savings.

Should she just write back and say sorry, she is not willing to repay or are they likely to get heavy? If it’s the latter, I will prob repay myself to save stress (as it’s a fairly low amount).

Thanks!

MovingForwards

MIL is not liable, it's a debt owed by your late FIL's estate.

If there was any money in his bank accounts (not joint accounts), stocks, shares, other assets in his sole name AND after his funeral expenses were paid, then the debts get paid.

If there was nothing, write to them, with a copy of the death certificate and say the estate is insolvent and any further requests for settlement will result in a formal complaint and escalation to the FSO.

Malthusian

Was the house in joint tenancy or tenants in common?

If the latter the estate owns 50% of the house and is not insolvent. Either the MIL can pay the bill or the executors / administrators will have to sell the house in order to settle the estate's debt. (Which would be madness as the costs of moving house will be far greater than £700.)

If the former your mother now owns 100% of the house and the estate is insolvent (based on your info that there are no other assets). She is not liable and should proceed as per MovingForwards.

If the house is tenants in common, did he make a Will? (It is irrelevant if the house was owned as joint tenants as his estate has no assets to distribute.) If not, how much is his share worth? If it's tenants in common and the answers are "no" and "more than £250k", the MIL has another issue.