How to Settle Credit Cards That Are Left When a Spouse Dies

The death of a spouse is a horribly painful experience, which is often compounded by the stress of managing the deceased's financial affairs. If your spouse died leaving behind credit card debt, it is important to know that you may not always be personally liable for these debts. By going through your spouse's credit card statements, you can take steps to secure his accounts against identity theft, stop additional fees while the estate is settled, get the debts paid, and, if you are personally responsible for any of the debt, work toward an amicable settlement with the credit card companies.

Instructions

1

Gather your spouse's credit card statements together and compare them to the credit cards that he had in his wallet. By doing this, you can ensure that you don't miss contacting a creditor while you attempt to settle the bills. Make sure that the executor of the state, if someone other than yourself, gets copies of these bills so that they can be paid.

2

Determine, with your attorney's help if necessary, if you are in any way responsible for paying off these credit card bills. If you were a joint holder of a credit card account, you are indeed responsible for continuing payments. However, if you were simply an authorized user, or not on the account at all, you are generally not responsible for personally paying the credit card charges. One exception to this is if you are living in a community property state, in which case you may be responsible for all of your late spouse's debts, regardless of who signed for them.

3

Write to each of the credit card companies and explain that your spouse is deceased. Attach a copy of the death certificate and include the name and address of the executor of the will and the attorney who is handling the estate. This step serves three purposes: The first is that it can help prevent identity theft, as there are some unscrupulous people who will use the identity of a dead person to obtain credit. The second is that credit card companies must refrain from adding fees to an account during the settlement of an estate, according to Jonathan Pond of AARP.com. The credit card companies may then submit their claims to the executor, who can pay them from the estate.

4

Contact credit card companies to work out a settlement if you are personally responsible for the debt, the estate does not have enough assets to pay the charges and you are not able to manage the payments yourself. If the credit card companies are unwilling to work with you, ask your attorney for advice, or consider seeking credit counseling.