Debts after someone dies

In general, debts are paid from what the person left. Family members generally do not pay them from their own money.

Checked against official sources: October 30, 2026.

The general rule

Debts are generally paid from the money and property the person left (the estate). Family members generally do not have to pay them from their own money.

Law: 12 CFR 1006.6(a)(4)

When you may have to pay

If the estate cannot pay a debt and no one else shared responsibility for it, the debt may go unpaid.
You may have to pay if you co-signed the loan, were a joint account holder on a credit card (not just an authorized user), or state law makes a spouse responsible for certain debts, such as in community property states or states with laws on necessary costs like health care.
Debt collectors may contact the executor, administrator or other personal representative of the estate, and a surviving spouse. They may not say or suggest that you must pay from your own money when you do not.
Collectors may contact other relatives only to find the person handling the estate, and should not discuss the debt with them.
You can ask for the debt details in writing (a validation notice), dispute the debt, and tell a collector to stop contacting you.

What collectors may do

A debt collector is a company or person that tries to collect money owed. After a death, collectors may contact the person who is handling the estate and a surviving spouse. The points above list what they may not say. If a collector calls you, you can ask for the details of the debt in writing, dispute it and tell the collector to stop contacting you. If a collector keeps calling about a relative's debt, Debt Collector Map explains your rights by state.

When you use a small estate procedure

Many state small estate laws make the person who receives property personally responsible for some of the person's debts, up to the value of what they received. Each state page shows that state's rule.

That is why it matters to read your state's rule before you sign. The table after this guide shows what each state says about the small estate affidavit in its own words. Many of these rules are about unsecured debts, which are debts with nothing pledged to back them, such as credit cards and medical bills.

A house with a mortgage

For a home with fewer than five units, a lender may not call the whole loan due just because the home passes to a relative after the borrower's death, to a spouse or children who become owners, or to a surviving joint owner. If you inherited the home, tell the mortgage servicer. The servicer may ask for proof that you have a right to the home, such as the death certificate and a will or a letter from the executor. Once the servicer confirms you as a 'successor in interest', you are treated as a borrower under federal mortgage servicing rules. If you already have title, the lender does not have to check your ability to repay before letting you take over the loan.

HOPE Hotline (HUD-approved housing counselors): (888) 995-4673

Law: 12 U.S.C. 1701j-3(d)(3), (5), (6); 12 CFR 1024.30(d), 1024.31

Questions to bring to legal aid

Does my state make me responsible for the person's debts if I sign a small estate affidavit?
Which debts count, and up to what amount?
Did the person have Medicaid, and could the state make a claim?
What should I say if a collector keeps calling?

Before you pay anything

Do not pay a debt from your own money just because a collector asks. Ask for the details in writing, find out whether the estate has anything to pay with, and ask a court self-help center or a legal aid office about your state's rules. If the estate is small, the order in which debts are paid can matter, and the state page for your state lists the free help available.

What each state says about debts and the affidavit

State	What the state says
Alaska	The person who receives property by affidavit is answerable and accountable for it to any personal representative later appointed and to anyone with a superior right. If a personal representative is appointed later, the property must be given to the personal representative.
Arizona	A person who receives property by affidavit must account for it to any personal representative of the estate or to anyone with a better right to it.
Arkansas	The affidavit states that there are no unpaid claims and that the Department of Human Services has been repaid for any benefits. If a claim is presented within 3 months after the notice for real estate is first published and is not paid without using the person's property, the distributee must open a regular probate case and pay a new filing fee.
California	If you receive property this way, you are personally responsible for the person's unpaid unsecured debts (such as funeral costs, last-illness costs and wage claims), up to the value of what you received minus liens. You also must give the property, or its value, to anyone with a better legal right to it, and three times the value if you got it by fraud.
Colorado	Anyone who receives property under the affidavit must answer for it to a personal representative appointed later or to anyone with a better right to the estate.
Connecticut	Anyone who receives a transfer or payment under the decree is liable for its value for any estate, succession or transfer tax, and to any executor or administrator appointed later.
Delaware	The people who receive property must answer for it to anyone with a prior right, and must account to any heir or to a personal representative appointed later.
District of Columbia	The designated successor has a fiduciary duty to safeguard and promptly pay or deliver the asset. Anyone who receives an asset this way must account for it to any personal representative appointed later or to another successor with an equal or better right.
Florida	People who receive property this way are personally liable for a share of all lawful claims against the estate, up to the value of what each received on the date of distribution (not counting exempt property). A known creditor who did not consent and was not provided for can still collect, with costs and attorney's fees.
Hawaii	Anyone who receives property by affidavit must answer and account for it to any personal representative of the estate or to anyone with a better right to it.
Idaho	Anyone who receives property by affidavit must answer for it to any personal representative of the estate or to anyone with a better right.
Illinois	You must pay the person's valid debts from the estate, in the order of the classes listed in the affidavit, before any distribution to heirs or beneficiaries. By signing, you agree to repay (indemnify) creditors, heirs, beneficiaries and anyone who relied on the affidavit for any loss caused by your act or omission, up to the amount lost, plus their reasonable attorney's fees.
Indiana	Anyone who receives property this way must answer for it to a personal representative appointed later, or to anyone with a better right to it.
Iowa	The affidavit states that Medicaid debt and creditors will be paid to the extent of the money received, and that no one else has a right to the property. A false affidavit is perjury.
Kansas	The affiant states that all unpaid debts, claims and estate taxes have been or will be paid.
Louisiana	By signing, an heir accepts the succession. Heirs who receive property are responsible for the person's debts (including funeral and burial costs) in proportion to their share, but only up to the value of what they received.
Maine	If you receive property with the affidavit, you must answer for it to any personal representative appointed later and to anyone with a better right to it.
Massachusetts	A voluntary personal representative is liable as a personal representative 'in his own wrong' to anyone harmed by how they handle the estate, and must account to any personal representative appointed later. Anyone who receives property this way must account for it to an appointed personal representative or anyone with a better right to it.
Michigan	If you receive property with the affidavit, you must answer for it to a personal representative appointed later or to anyone with a better right to it. A false statement on the affidavit can be prosecuted as perjury.
Minnesota	The person who receives property must pay it to anyone with a superior claim: the surviving spouse's or children's exempt property and allowances, and the priority expenses and claims, such as funeral and last-illness costs.
Mississippi	The affidavit must acknowledge your duty to distribute the property to those with a superior right. Anyone who receives property this way must answer for it to a personal representative and to anyone with a better right.
Missouri	The affiant must state that all debts, claims and estate taxes have been or will be paid, but the affiant's liability for unpaid claims is limited to the value of the property received. The bond protects creditors and the rightful heirs; claims against the sureties end unless started within two years after the bond is filed.
Montana	A person who receives property by affidavit is answerable and accountable for it to any personal representative of the estate and to any other person with a better right. If a holder asks you to sign an agreement to protect it, you may later have to repay if the transfer was wrong.
Nebraska	Your liability to the person's creditors cannot be more than the value of the property you receive. A creditor cannot recover from you for the person's debt after three years from the death or one year after the property was distributed, whichever is later.
Nevada	If the affidavit does not meet the legal requirements or is not entirely true, what you receive is subject to all the person's debts. If you did not give the required notice to other successors, you hold what you receive in trust for them.
New Jersey	The heir who signs receives the assets for the benefit of all the heirs and creditors, gets all the rights, powers and duties of an appointed administrator, and can be sued and required to account as if appointed by the Surrogate.
New York	The voluntary administrator must answer to creditors, heirs, beneficiaries and any executor or administrator appointed later, the same way any estate fiduciary does. Anyone who knowingly makes a false affidavit to get the property can be prosecuted for perjury.
North Carolina	The person who collects is answerable and accountable to any personal representative appointed later and to anyone else with an interest in the estate. The clerk can hold an affiant who does not distribute the property or file the closing affidavit in contempt, or require a bond.
North Dakota	A person who receives property this way must answer and account for it to any personal representative appointed later and to anyone with a better right to it. Filing a false affidavit is a Class A misdemeanor.
Oklahoma	Anyone who receives property by affidavit must answer and account for it to a personal representative of the estate or to anyone with a better right to it. Knowingly signing a false affidavit can be punished by a fine of up to $3,000, up to six months in jail, or both, and the money must be paid back to the rightful beneficiary.
Oregon	The affiant is a fiduciary and can be personally liable for losses to the estate (for example, from delay, commingling, paying claims in the wrong order or self-dealing). Creditors can present claims within four months after filing.
Rhode Island	The voluntary administrator or executor must first pay the funeral and last-illness expenses and administration expenses (without a fee for their own services), then the person's debts in the legal order, and then distribute the rest to the surviving spouse or, if there is no spouse, to the heirs under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-1-10.
South Carolina	A person who receives payment or delivery must answer for the property to any personal representative appointed later and to anyone with a better right to it.
South Dakota	The person who collects property by affidavit is responsible for seeing that it is applied to liens and encumbrances, the homestead allowance, exempt property, family allowance, funeral expenses, administration costs and creditor claims, as the law requires, before the rest goes to heirs and devisees.
Texas	The heirs who receive property must answer to anyone with a prior right to it and account to any executor or administrator appointed later. Everyone who signed the affidavit, including the witnesses, is liable for any damage or loss caused by a payment or transfer made in reliance on it.
Utah	Anyone who receives property by affidavit must answer for it to any personal representative of the estate or to anyone with a better right.
Virginia	The designated successor has a legal (fiduciary) duty to safeguard the asset and promptly pay or deliver it to the other successors. Anyone who receives an asset this way must answer for it to a personal representative appointed later and to any successor with an equal or better right.
Washington	The person who receives property by affidavit is answerable and accountable for it to any personal representative later appointed and to any other person with a better right. The affidavit states that all debts, including funeral and burial costs, have been paid or provided for.
West Virginia	The authorized successor has a fiduciary duty to safeguard the assets and promptly pay or deliver them to the people entitled. For three years after the certificate is issued, the authorized successor is liable to the successors (and any personal representative appointed later) for any breach of that duty.
Wisconsin	By accepting the property, you take on a duty to use it to pay the person's obligations in the order set by Wis. Stat. 859.25, and to give any balance to the people named in the will or other governing instrument, or to the heirs.
Wyoming	A person who receives property by affidavit is answerable and accountable to a personal representative appointed later and to anyone with an equal or better right to it.

Sources