what happens if a spouse dies?

[mrgoattoo]

Just curious

I live in Ohio and was wondering what happens when a spouse owes  money on a credit card and dies and the other spouse isnt on their accounts.

The wife and I have a number of credit cards that are in our own names, no joint accounts, and I have a balance on the one for a car and we got to wondering if I were to pass away if she could be responsible for that card even though its not a joint account.

[OhioCPA]

As I understand, the decedent's estate would be responsible for the debt. If the estate is not solvent, then the bank would lose out.

[mrgoattoo]

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@OhioCPA wrote:

As I understand, the decedent's estate would be responsible for the debt. If the estate is not solvent, then the bank would lose out.

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Thats what I thought I was understanding as I was reading about Ohio law but wasnt sure.

I wonder why they cant come directly after the surviving spouse since the debt was likely taken on during the marriage?

[OhioCPA]

Ohio isn't a community property state, so that might be part of it. I assume they could come after joint owned assets, or the car since it was security on the note.

[mrgoattoo]

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@OhioCPA wrote:

Ohio isn't a community property state, so that might be part of it. I assume they could come after joint owned assets, or the car since it was security on the note.

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Actually the car was bought with a 'balance transfer' where they just deposited cash into my account from a credit card that could have been used for anything so there is nothing attaching the car to the loan. I did it this way so I didnt have to have full coverage insurance to keep the insurance cost down but when we changed over to StateFarm it as so much cheaper then our Geico insurance that we ended up with full coverage with 10 times the coverage, 10 times the renters coverage and a huge liability umbrella for just a little more ($14 a month additional) anyway.

The main reason I asked the question was the wife wondered, for instance, if I had gone nuts on my CC's and then died would she be responsible for it even though she had nothing to do with the charges.

[HoldingOntoHope]

No but if you go nuts on your credit cards she may be responsible for your death due to her frustration / anger.

[Leadberry]

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@HoldingOntoHope wrote:

No but if you go nuts on your credit cards she may be responsible for your death due to her frustration / anger.

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lol