Parents' debts passed on to children?

[ouryL]

The other problem is that if property was owned jointly between you and your parents then their debt can encumber that property. If your parents gifted such property or money to you shortly before death, the administrator of their estate or the estate’s debtors may have grounds to sue you. :eek:

[Campion]

@Joe Mahma

A friend of mine has an elderly father in poor health, and he recently incurred a large debt for a foolish reason. She is afraid that, if he should die, she will be liable fot this debt. Would the debt holder legally be able to come after her for this money?

Joe: there are scam artists who prey on the elderly, and several jurisdictions have enacted laws to protect the elderly against those scams. I don’t know what the “foolish reason” is, but your friend may be well advised to talk to a lawyer to find out of the debt can be voided. (We once encountered a scam targeted at the elderly; the perpetrators sold “life insurance policies” that paid out less than the policy holder was required to pay in.)

Call your local or state bar association and ask for lawyers specializing in elder law or estate taxation; call your local district attorney’s office and ask if they have anyone who specializes in protection of the elderly; either of those options may be helpful.

As others have told you, unless there is more to this story (she cosigned, for example), your friend shouldn’t be liable for the debt. It may give her peace of mind, however, if she talks to an elder law or estate lawyer. A consult should be cheap or free, and if it helps relieve her mind, it’s worth it.

@phall0106

My mother has been diagnosed with cancer, and it’s not looking good. Right before she was diagnosed, she’d taken a second mortage out on her house. She still owes for the first mortage, and the house really isn’t worth much at all. She’s got a ton of credit card debt, and there’s no way she’s got enough in life insurance to take care of all the debt. I’m pretty sure she’s got her plot and funeral expenses taken care of (or the money to do it), but not much else. There’s no way I can afford to take on her debt in addition to my own.

Same advice. You have way too much going on right now to worry about these types of things. Lining up a lawyer now who can help you through probate should relieve some of that stress by confirming what we’ve told you. Good luck.

[clairobscur]

@Lars Aruns

Just as a side note, in Italy debts are inherited together with assets. Because of that, someone nominated as a heir by someone has the option to refuse the heredity
I hazard a guess that this disposition might come from Roman Law, and therefore found in some other countries where Roman Law is followed (France, for example), but I have no idea.

Yes, it’s essentially the same in France. But the net result is exactly the same than in the US. If the debts are more important than the assets, you just refuse the inheritance and the creditors are still out of luck.

(Normally, the heir accepts “sous reserve d’inventaire”, which means that he reserve the right to eventually refuse it if for instance “hidden debts” are discovered later, or the assets turn out to have a lower value than expected, etc…)

The only significant difference I can think of with what the previous posters mentionned about the US is that you can accept the heirloom even when the assets are insufficient to pay off the debts. In which case you become liable and must reimburse them. In practice, I doubt many people would do such a thing, though.

[Northern_Piper]

Same thing in Quebec (also a civil law jurisdiction). The heirs under the will have the option to accept or renounce the succession, if I remember correctly.