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**Drugmachine** · 02-28-2012, 10:10 AM

If your parents die with debt, are you as their child obligated to pay it off?

Not including say the car or house, but things like credit cards, store cards, health bills, and other miscellaneous debts?

Yes and no. If the result of debt is part of the estate, it needs to be paid off. However, if it is not, then debt doesn't transfer. It's more complicated than that though - depends on what kind of tax you are paying, depends on what the estate is... depends on the state, and depends on each type of debt and the timeline of its acquisition. If this is a serious question, then it's well worth it to spend a few hundred dollars talking to an estate attorney and CPA.

02-28-2012, 10:10 AM	#2
Drugmachine Join Date Apr 2006 Posts 4,490 Senior Member	If your parents die with debt, are you as their child obligated to pay it off? Not including say the car or house, but things like credit cards, store cards, health bills, and other miscellaneous debts? Yes and no. If the result of debt is part of the estate, it needs to be paid off. However, if it is not, then debt doesn't transfer. It's more complicated than that though - depends on what kind of tax you are paying, depends on what the estate is... depends on the state, and depends on each type of debt and the timeline of its acquisition. If this is a serious question, then it's well worth it to spend a few hundred dollars talking to an estate attorney and CPA.
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