When a person passes away with medical/ambulance bills and loans in their name only, does their family have a to pay for them?
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When a person passes away with medical/ambulance bills and loans in their name only, does their family have a to pay for them?
Asked on October 11, 2018 under Estate Planning, Alabama
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
A spouse would be liable for medical or ambulence bills, since those are the sort of "necessary" expenses that a court concludes that spouse needs to pay to provide basic care to his/her spouse. Other family members, including children, would not have to pay them unless they happened to co-sign or guaranty those bills.
No family member needs to pay a deceased's loan unless they guaranteed or co-signed the loan.
Even if family members do not have to pay bills, the creditors can go after any assets in the "estate" (money, assets, and property left behind by the deceased); while the family would not have to pay them from their own personal money, creditors could take away money, etc. which otherwise family members would inherit.
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