Father in law passing – is his wife liable for his debts?
My father in law passed away last week at 59 yrs old (but has not worked in the last 21 years). My mother-in-law is the excecutor of his will. He basically owes approx. $40,000 to various credit institutions (banks,credit cards).My mother-in-law works for minimum wage and has her own credit cards. She did not know about these other cards he had and found he was using credit cards to pay other cards and loans. She is afraid they will come after her for the debt and ruin her credit at 61 yrs old. She cannot keep up with the payments (debt) he incurred. And as a excecutor of his will, is she liable for his debts, can they garish her wages? How does she tell these creditor about his death without getting stuck on the hook for the debt?
As far as I am aware the executor would not be found liable, ultimately it would be your fathers estate that would be responsible for these debts. As long as you mother-in-law has not signed or used any of these cards I don’t for see that any problem should arise. To be sure, I recommend you clarify this with a lawyer who deals with estates and will on a regular basis as this is not an area I have ever been heavily involved with.