Who is responsible for paying off debts when someone dies?Ilyce GlinkSamuel J Tamkin
What Happens to Debts After Someone Dies? When someone dies, a legal process called “probate” is initiated. Assuming the person who died wrote a will, this process is managed by the individual the deceased designated in their will as theirexecutor. Among other things, the executor is respons...
overdue utility bills, back rent, and unpaid taxes. This means that lenders cannot show up at the deceased’s home and start carting away furniture to cover the unpaid debts; they can only make a claim through the estate to be paid what they are owed. When someone dies with a large amo...
When someone dies, his or her debt doesn’t disappear. His or her remaining assets get pooled together, and then a probate court doles out payments to cover any remaining debts: First the mortgage; then other secured debts, like car loans; and then, if there’s any money left, unsecured...