It’s doubly tough on a spouse who has lost a husband or wife. First, there are all the emotional issues involved with losing a loved one. And second, there can be credit card debt to deal with, which can also be overwhelming.
So, what’s the surviving spouse supposed to do in the event his or her partner died leaving a lot of credit card debt?
Contact the credit bureaus
The first thing that needs to be done is to contact the three credit reporting bureaus and let them know your spouse has died. A deceased person’s abandoned credit file is a sure invitation to identity theft. The three agencies are Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. When you contact them, you need to ask for a “deceased notice” and for the statement “do not issue credit” to be added to the person’s credit file.
Get a credit report
You need to get your spouse’s credit report so you will know for sure which credit cards are open.
Contact the creditors
Third, be sure to call the decedent’s creditors and let them know about the death. You will need to mail copies of the death certificate to all of them.
Are you responsible?
Will you be responsible for your spouse’s credit card debts? This is an important question but has no simple answer. If the card was a joint account, that is your name was on it, you will be responsible for paying off any outstanding balances. You could either pay off the balance due and close the account or have it titled in just your name.
Second cardholders and authorized users
If you were a second cardholder or authorized user of any credit cards, you are probably not responsible to pay them off. In this case, the debt is considered to be just that of the deceased and is to be settled through his or her estate.
Individual account
In general, you are not responsible for any credit card debts on an individual account or one that was in your spouse’s name only. However, if you live in a community property state, all assets and debts acquired after you were married are considered joint property, meaning that you would be responsible for your spouse’s credit card debts. The 10 that are community property states are Alaska, California, Idaho, Arizona, Nevada, Louisiana, New Mexico, Washington, Wisconsin and Texas.
The deceased’s estate
If you are not responsible for your spouse’s credit card debt, they are paid off out of his or her estate. If there are assets in the estate, the executor or person in charge of managing the estate – pays the debt. In the event there are not enough assets in the estate to pay off the debt, the credit card company usually just writes it off and closes the account. As an example of this, suppose your spouse left $10,000 in credit card debt but there was only $5,000 in his estate. Since the credit card company can’t collect more than what’s there, it will just write it off as a loss.
If you’re stuck with a lot of credit card debt
If you’re loved one left you with a pile of credit card debt, we can help. Our debt relief partners can negotiate with the credit card companies to get your debts reduced – probably to just a fraction of what you owe – and work with you to develop a payment plan you could afford. We’ve helped thousands of families get out of debt in a reasonable amount of time and could probably do the same for you.