I read that a surviving spouse in New York is only responsible for paying his deceased wife's credit card bills if the charges were for necessaries. So, if the wife charged liquor and cigarette purchases totalling thousands of dollars on credit cards in her name only, must the husband pay the charges after she dies? If he is not responsible, would the credit card companies be likely to go after her estate for the money (let's assume that she had a joint account with her husband and joint ownership of their home)? How does that work? Once she dies, the money in the joint account and the house become his, so what can the credit card companies do to collect the bills? What if she had a will and left jewelry and other things to her children? Would the kids be able to get it? Could it be given to them right away or would the credit card bills have to be paid first? Thanks, in advance, for your advice
-
Welcome to our legal community! Click here or the create new topic button to ask a question and receive answers and comments from our friendly and helpful legal community.
Articles that answer frequent legal questions are in our Law Guide. Important legal news is reported in The Law JournalYou can find a lawyer near you in the Lawyer Directory. If you know that you need to hire an attorney, you can submit a case review from a lawyer.
Husband/Estate Responsibility for Deceased Wife's Credit Card Bills
- Thread Starter ask477
- Start date
- Status
The wife's estate is liable for the debt, and the credit providers would absolutely be likely to go after the estate. It is also the duty of the executor to pay those debts out of the estate prior to distributing the estate to the beneficiaries. If she had a will leaving assets to her children, the executor may be legally obliged to encroach on those in order to pay the debts.
Assets that were held jointly pass to the other joint owner directly, and do not form part of the estate. The creditors probably have no claim over them. An exception might be if they were held jointly in order to defraud or defeat her creditors.
The husband is not liable.
The executor should seek legal advice prior to acting.
Assets that were held jointly pass to the other joint owner directly, and do not form part of the estate. The creditors probably have no claim over them. An exception might be if they were held jointly in order to defraud or defeat her creditors.
The husband is not liable.
The executor should seek legal advice prior to acting.
jewels0912
New Member
In the state of Florida is a Husband legally responsible for charges on credit cards , can they take everything that he has left! She opened the cards with out his knowledge , She has just passed away and is now getting threatening calls from cc company! What can happen! please please help what can he do? He is currently indigent himself all he has is property and they are threatening to take it away . What can he do!
army judge
Super Moderator
Florida is a very debtor friendly state.
A creditor can't force the sale of your home for unsecured debts (credit cards)!
I suggest you ignore the threats from debt collectors.
You don't know if your wife opened the accounts, either.
In fact, you don't know who might have opened the accounts. As you have no knowledge of the cards, you only know you didn't do it.
So, stop communicating with those heartless "bat rastards"!
They are NOT the alleged creditor, they are simply con-artists, debt collector, predators. They lie, cheat, and steal to get money. Don't give them a penny of yours, and stop listening to their lies about your deceased wife. Don't let them tarnish her memory, ignore them.
You'll be okay, so grieve the loss of your dearly departed wife, mourn her, and heal.
Sent from my iPad3 using Tapatalk HD
- Status
Share this page
