The last thing anyone wants after a death in the family is calls from debt collectors. It is important to know what a person’s creditors can (and cannot) legally do, and how to protect yourself and your family from improper or deceptive practices.
Generally, after people die, their estate is responsible for paying any debts they may have left.
If the estate doesn’t have enough money to pay all debts, the law has set up a “priority” system for the executor (or trustee) to determine what creditors get paid first from what the decedent left at death. The only exceptions are that a spouse may be responsible for a joint debt and a family member or other person might be responsible if they co-signed or guaranteed a debt.
A debt collector is allowed to contact the executor of the estate (or successor trustee of a revocable trust) to discuss a debt belonging to a deceased person. A debt collector may also contact the deceased person’s spouse to discuss a debt, as well as the person’s parents (but only if the person was a minor).
Generally, debt collectors are legally barred from contacting anyone else. The can contact other relatives or friends solely for the purpose of finding out the whereabouts of a spouse or the person who is handling the deceased individual’s estate. What any Executor or Trustee must remember is debts must be paid before any distribution to the beneficiaries of the decedent.
Ms. MacDonald’s practice is limited to estate planning, probate, conservatorships, elder law and trust administration. Ms. MacDonald maintains her practice in the Santa Clarita Valley at 25115 Avenue Stanford, Suite B-124 in Valencia, California. She can be reached at 661-294-6464.