Relative died with $75,000 in credit card debt, should his family pay?

Question

A relative of mine got canned (FIRED!!) from a job a few years ago. It destroyed his self confidence and made him lazy. He got all kinds of credit cards and charged up a storm and then cashed a number of credit card Convenience Checks so he would have money to pay his bills. He used the funds from the checks to pay the minimum payment so his credit stayed good. As he ran out of money he cashed more checks. Near the end of his life he was about 75K in debt and nearing the end of his available credit.

He died suddenly of a heart attack at age 42, while living with his parents. He was not married and was broke. He had no assets. Now the crediters are calling his parents and saying they have a moral responsibility to pay their deceased sons debt. They have already started making payments.

What do you think?

Answer 1

unless they cosigned, they are off the hook.

debt collectors can go after his estate if any.

Answer 2

The parents should talk to a lawyer.

if the relative left ZERO assets, then the parents have no liability.  

Answer 3

They are not supposed to be paying his debt. When he died if the family had an attorney and they sent the creditors copies of the death certificate then what they are doing is not only wrong to your family it is a federal crime. If they have not sent notice of their sons death they should right away and obtain a legal counsel to keep these people from hounding them. It is a federal crime for a reason. I hope for their sake they recover their money that they have paid and are able to get these creditors off their backs.  

Answer 4

nope

Answer 5

I don't believe they are legally required, they should contact a lawyer, sounds like the credit collection agent is trying to guilt them into paying, it's working they are paying.  

Answer 6

I think debt collectors are attrocious. They are in no way morally responsible for his credit card debt. You could say the credit card people were morally responsible for allowing your relative to get in such trouble in the first place.

I would tell them that they need to sue the estate. If there is nothing there, well they get nothing. Anyway, they probably made a fortune on him when he was using the cards to begin with.  

Answer 7

Your relative has made a serious mistake morally and ethically by this act, he has further compounded the problem by being selfish and not heeding the fact that his actions could have a consequence on people near to him. May his soul rest in peace and I apologies for being judgmental.

The parents of a 42 year old (must be retired or close to retiring) are in no way responsible for his debt. The credit card is issued to the holder and the agreement is between the card holder and the bank. In no way a parent can be held responsible for bad debt and it will not hold in court of law.

The parents should stop paying immediately and consult a lawyer or consumer forum for further assistance.

Answer 8

They have absolutely NO responsibility, moral or legal, to pay these debts.  They are crazy to even consider it.

Answer 9

NO!! His parents have no "moral responsibility" to pay his debts.  They need to tell the collectors to stop calling and then hang up!  If necessary they should contact an attorney to write letters telling the collectors to cease and desist!

Answer 10

NO WAY !!!!!!  They have no legal obligation to make the payments. Unless they were listed on the card as co-signer or an authorized user. Also if they were a user and never used the card than they can contest the authorization !   Dealing with a loss don't need to feel responsible for the debt. The credit card company will play on weak people. Do not take it. Don't pay, they will write it off and get tax credit so don't feel bad about the debt. also look into the cards being insured in case of a death.

Answer 11

It sounds like they have assumed responsibility for the debt by making the payments to begin with.

That being said, unless they consigned or guaranteed any of the debt, they are not morally or legally liable to pay the bills.

Since they have started making payments, there may be nothing a lawyer can do, but I would consult one anyways.

Answer 12

Well, the credit card company DID say that the parents had a "moral" responsibility.  That is different than a "legal" responsibility.  And the job of the collector is to get the money, so he is just doing "his job".  Personally, I believe after the age of 19, the son is an independent individual, totally seperate from the parents in his legal dealings so whatever happens to the son, cannot affect the parents as they are now two seperate entities.    Irrelevant that he resided at the same dwelling as the parents, he was a renter.    Irrelevant that he was not married.

Answer 13

They shouldn't be obligated to take care of this, but before anything else, make sure they are not dealing with a collection company called NCO Financial services; they really play your guilt, and they are a scam in the end!!! They really should speak to a lawyer and not make anymore pmnts. until they have done so! Good luck!

Answer 14

s***w moral responsibility. The crediters are just trying to pull that card. The companies bear some fault in this. They extended to much credit no matter how you cut it. They factor in a certain percentage of people defaulting.... which is written off. They factor in selling off old debt to collection companies.

As long as you parents were in no way part and party (anything signed) to any of the debt they owe zero. The debtors may pull the whole they are paying so they acknowlede the debt thing. It is not so.

Someone is gone and that is a thing in itself. But nobody should have to pay for the debt..... again the banks let him do it.

The parents need to stop all payments and tell the creditors to take a hike. Because they know that it would never stand up in court.