Post-Death Credit Card Debt: Who Has to Pay?

QUESTION: My mother died in a nursing home with just$5,000 to her name. She wanted my brother and I to have that money. Butit turns out that my mother had $7,000 in credit card debt. Does the$5,000 that remains have to be used to pay off that debt? And can thecredit card companies ask my brother and I to pay the $2,000 balancethat would remain?

ANSWER: Probate laws can vary greatly fromstate to state, so it's always wise to make sure the laws spelled outin any publication apply to the state in which your mother lastresided.

Having said that, there are a few principles that often applyto probate laws in most states. And one such provision is known as the"priority of claims" statute, meaning who's first in line to receivepayment for expenses due on the deceased's estate.

"Beneficiaries generally do not receive property until debt,administration expenses and taxes are paid," said Noreen Dillman, aWethersfield, Conn., lawyer who practices elder, probate and estateplanning law. (See the www.ctseniorlaw.comWeb site.)

With this priority-of-claims statute in mind, the credit cardcompanies might receive some or all of the $5,000 left behind by yourmother. How much they could legally take would depend on whether thereare other claims against your mother's estate.

But the credit card companies -- unless your name or yourbrother's name is also on one of the cards -- would not be able topursue you or your brother for the remaining $2,000 they are owed, "ifthe remaining assets are insufficient to pay that claim," Dillman said.

2004, The HartfordCourant, Conn. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.