My Late Parents Credit Card Debt
It can be one of the most unwelcome phone calls we could ever receive. As we grieve over the death of a loved one, creditors begin to call, demanding payment on an account. They tell you that you are now responsible for your parents’ credit card debt. Is it true? Let’s take a look at your rights and how that affects your late parents’ credit card debt.
The first thing you need to check is if you were an authorized user on your parents credit card accounts, or if you were a joint cardholder. There is a huge difference between the two when it comes to your responsibility towards the remaining debt. Most likely, the calls from collectors and letters you’ve been receiving have said that you were a joint cardholder. If you can’t remember your status on your parents credit cards and you don’t have a statement handy, you can contact the various credit bureaus (there are 4) that would be handling your late parents credit accounts.
If it turns out you were an authorized user on your parents credit accounts, than you can take a big sign of relief. An authorized user is authorized to make charges on the accounts they are on, and the status of the account is reported to your credit score, but you are not legally liable for any of the fees or charges on the account. Obviously, if you are an authorized user, it is absolutely vital that you clear up this problem as soon as possible since you don’t want a delinquent account to affect your credit score, but don’t let a debt collector tell you you MUST pay on an account when you don’t have to.
On the other hand, if it turns out you are a joint cardholder, than you are 100 percent legally liable to pay off the debt. The account would be considered just as much yours as it was your parents.
If you are not sure of the status of your relationship to your parents debt, there are two things you need to do. The first is to tell the debt collector to provide you with proof that the debt is, in fact, yours. They are required to demonstrate your responsibility to the debt in these kinds of situations. Don’t pay a penny if you don’t think you have to unless it is proven to you that you do.
The second thing you should do is to seek the advice of a lawyer. Sometimes there are loop holes that you can slip through so you do not have to foot the bill. You should also check with any sort of will that your parents might have left. They could have allotted for the debt to be paid, but the lawyers in charge of distributing the funds haven’t gotten around to it yet.
In most cases, debt collectors will provide you with a grace period to organize your late parents finances and to get your own ship in order before they begin demanding payment on accounts. But once in a while you get collectors who seem to be out for blood. If your parents were having financial difficulties before they passed, you may find that you have little to no time to grieve before you start getting nasty phone calls.