Reply #9: Let me make this perfectly clear. [View All]

[JoDog]

The survivors of a dead person are under no legal obligation to pay that person's debts. Period. Once upon a time in England, the next of kin were responsible for a dead person's debts. This made it entirely possible that someone could end up in debtor's prison for debts that they did not even incur. Particularly heavy debts could be passed down from father to son to grandson, impoverishing generations of a family. The founding fathers didn't want that to happen in America.

However, many people do not realize that they are not responsible for their loved one's debts. And I highly doubt that the collections agents inform them of that fact.