Unsecured Debt & Survivor Liability in Florida

When a family member or loved one passes away, there are generally many legal and financial details for the survivors to handle. One concern with many families is whether they are liable for debts left by the decedent. In Florida, as in all other states in the country, a deceased person's relatives and surviving family members are not legally responsible for paying outstanding debts unless they are joint signers on the debt or they take over the debt at the time of death.

Probate

Florida requires estates valued at $75,000 or more to go through a formal probate court process so that all assets and liabilities can be accounted for. Assets are things of value that the deceased person owned, such as real estate, vehicles, bank accounts and retirement or investment funds. Liabilities are all outstanding debts, such as an unpaid mortgage and credit card bills.

Estate Administrator

The Florida probate judge will assign a personal administrator if there was not one named in the deceased person's will. Personal administrators, or estate executors, are responsible for notifying all creditors of the decedent's death, taking asset and liability inventories, arranging the funeral and arranging creditor payments in the state order of priority.

Estate Liquidation

When a person dies, his existing assets are used to pay off any outstanding debt balances. If necessary, the estate executor sells assets to generate the funds needed to pay off debt balances. Debts that the estate must cover include burial fees, administration costs, and outstanding secured and unsecured debts, such as a real estate mortgage or a credit card balance.

Survivor Liability

A decedent's survivors are not responsible for his outstanding debt at the time of his death. If a survivor was a co-owner or joint account holder on a debt, however, that joint account holder could still be held liable for the debt since she accepted joint liability when the account was opened. Likewise, if an heir takes over a home with an existing mortgage, he must continue making mortgage payments, otherwise the home can be repossessed by the bank. The mortgage company cannot sue the heir for the balance of the mortgage, however, and survivors cannot be held liable for other types of debt, including unpaid taxes and personal loans.