Credit card debts

gracie83

I am getting  a bit worried about my late husbands credit cards debts.  I have checked the tenancy agreement for our mortgage and we are joint tenants.   He did not have a penny to his name.  We only had the current account, debts and a mortgage. One of the credit cards has come back to me asking for a payment of the full debt £2700.  There is another card with around £5000 but I have not heard from them yet.  (This card has been rubbish - I informed them of the death, then my husband got a text saying the direct debit to the card has been cancelled (I did not cancel it), today they wrote to my husband informing him the direct debit has been cancelled - it was cancelled because he is dead!)  I do not have this money to pay them.  I am going to be struggling with the mortgage on my own never mind bulk paying off his debts.  I have my own credit card  with £5000 owing on it.  I know I need to get some legal advice just hoping for some experiences.  Thank you.  

Savvy_Sue

I am sorry for your loss. 

The problem you have is the house: if you were renting you could reply to the credit cards along the lines of 'my husband's estate is insolvent, no-one is administering it, they were his debts not mine, can't help.' 

However, you could sell the house to clear the credit card debts, so his estate is not technically insolvent. I'm not suggesting you HAVE to do this, or that you SHOULD, I'm just pointing out that his estate included half a house. 

I'd suggest you really need some proper help from one of the debt management organisations like Stepchange or CAP, and there is a wealth of useful articles here. Maybe start with this one? 

Take it slowly. With banks and credit cards who are difficult to deal with, try to contact the bereavement department, and make a formal complaint if you need to. 

Also just checking: did your DH have life insurance? Is there a pension from his workplace? These would usually pass outside the estate (ie not included in its value) and might help you sort out your own debts. The Debt Free Wannabe board is very helpful for that!

xylophone

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cardsloans/article-1689651/Does-my-uncles-debt-die-with-him.html

Where there is a jointly-owned or mortgaged home it is important to establish what the ownership status is. The property could be owned as 'joint tenants' or as 'tenants in common'. In a joint tenancy, the property automatically passes to the surviving owner and creditors cannot automatically expect that the property is sold to pay the debts.

However, within five years, they can apply to the court for an Insolvency Administration Order (IAO). In this procedure a trustee may seek to recover the value of the deceased debtor's interest in the property that has been lost to the estate by making an application to the court. The court may make an order requiring the surviving partner to pay the trustee an amount not exceeding the value lost to the estate.

wannabe_a_saver

gracie83 said:

I am getting  a bit worried about my late husbands credit cards debts.  I have checked the tenancy agreement for our mortgage and we are joint tenants.   He did not have a penny to his name.  We only had the current account, debts and a mortgage. One of the credit cards has come back to me asking for a payment of the full debt £2700.  There is another card with around £5000 but I have not heard from them yet.  (This card has been rubbish - I informed them of the death, then my husband got a text saying the direct debit to the card has been cancelled (I did not cancel it), today they wrote to my husband informing him the direct debit has been cancelled - it was cancelled because he is dead!)  I do not have this money to pay them.  I am going to be struggling with the mortgage on my own never mind bulk paying off his debts.  I have my own credit card  with £5000 owing on it.  I know I need to get some legal advice just hoping for some experiences.  Thank you.  

I would strongly recommend posting on the debt free wannabe board.  This is a small amount of unsecured debt, nobody needs to lose their home over that, especially when it is not your debt at all. 

gettingtheresometime

Savvy_Sue said:

I am sorry for your loss. 

The problem you have is the house: if you were renting you could reply to the credit cards along the lines of 'my husband's estate is insolvent, no-one is administering it, they were his debts not mine, can't help.' 

However, you could sell the house to clear the credit card debts, so his estate is not technically insolvent. I'm not suggesting you HAVE to do this, or that you SHOULD, I'm just pointing out that his estate included half a house. 

I'd suggest you really need some proper help from one of the debt management organisations like Stepchange or CAP, and there is a wealth of useful articles here. Maybe start with this one? 

Take it slowly. With banks and credit cards who are difficult to deal with, try to contact the bereavement department, and make a formal complaint if you need to. 

Also just checking: did your DH have life insurance? Is there a pension from his workplace? These would usually pass outside the estate (ie not included in its value) and might help you sort out your own debts. The Debt Free Wannabe board is very helpful for that!

Would half the equity in the house be considered as part of the husband's estate if the house was held as Joint Tenants?

xylophone

Would half the equity in the house be considered as part of the husband's estate if the house was held as Joint Tenants?

See link in my post above.

Savvy_Sue

gettingtheresometime said:

Would half the equity in the house be considered as part of the husband's estate if the house was held as Joint Tenants?

xylophone said:

Would half the equity in the house be considered as part of the husband's estate if the house was held as Joint Tenants?

See link in my post above.

When xylophone posted I realised it wasn't completely straightforward, but I'd expect that CAP / StepChange would be able to advise and help get this whole thing sorted. It's not just the late husband's debts to be thought about, it's managing her own debts and the mortgage.