Deceased and credit card debt

[brazenhussy]

Hi there,

I hope this is the right section to post this, please advise if it needs posting elsewhere

Does anyone know what happens if someone dies and leaves substantial credit card debt (around the £12,000 mark) and there is no will and no equity?

Does it become the responsibility of the person who applies for probate even if that person has only done so because there is no one else alive who can and the affairs have to be sorted?

Hope that makes sense

TIA

No one has to pay it. It is unsecured debt, dies with them.

If being hassled send copy of death certificate by recorded delivery.

What happens to debts when someone dies?

What happens if there's not enough money to pay off all debts?

In this case, the estate has to pay off any outstanding debts in a set order before anything is given to people named in the will, or until the money runs out

If there are no assets (or insurance policies) to pay off the debt then the debt dies with the person.

The only exception is where the credit card is held in joint names or someone else has acted as guarantor of the debt.

Thanks everyone, thats a huge relief

but although nobody else is liable to pay it, if the deceased's estate has any money or assets, including a house, they have to go to pay the debts in so far as they can.

the assets can't go to the deceased's beneficiaries or family unless there is anything left after the debts have been paid. If the executor does give money from the estate to beneficiaries, the creditor can come after the executor. The same holds for outstanding gas and electricity bills and so on, and for overpaid pensions if they were paid in advance or were paid after death. They have got to be paid before the beneficiaries can haver anything.

If there is insuficient money to pay the debts, with any heirlooms or keepsakes, the people who want them would have to buy them from the estate, preferably at public auction to avoid arguments about fair pricing, and the proceeds used to pay off debts.

IANAL