If a spouse has a credit card in their name only , and they die , is their wife/husband liable for the debt ?
And how does this affect co-habitators rather than if you are married ?

couldn't give you a definitive answer but I do know when a friends husband died, the credit card company wrote off his debts and she was not liable but I think the answer is speak to the credit card company.

I also can't give a definitive answer but I'm 99% sure that if it is a in the person who dies name then the spouse or anyone else is not liable, however the credit card company is a creditor and can claim money from the estate.  So the credit card company can claim from any money or property left by the person and I believe that they would have priority over relatives etc.

So could the credit card company make the widow/widower sell the family home to pay the debt ?
It seems wrong that  a wife/husband can become liable for a debt that they had no control over .

Debts always come out of an estate before the residue is passed to the heirs.

What about if the house is in joint names ?

I think they could if the house were not jointly owned then the house would be part of the deceased estate so in theory they could. 

I've just looked up the rules and if the credit agreement is in the deceased's name then credit company has no claim on any relatives only on the estate.

If the house is jointly owned then the credit card company could claim against half the house which could in theory result in having to sell the house to pay the debts.  If you know someone in this position I think they need to talk to a solicitor.

Apparently it is also common practice for some credit card companies to ask relatives to clear the debt again if you know someone in this position tell them to tell the companies to claim against the estate.

when my aunt died she left about £10K on cards that no one knew about....my uncle was horrified!!! he has had to pay it off over the last 3 years :(

Credit cards are unsecured debt so they can not take your property off you. If you were to default on a credit card they can get a county court judgement to get payments deducted out of your wages before you are paid but im sure that you would not lose your home over it. Try calling the CAB (Citizens Advice Bureau) im sure that they will confirm this for you.

Debt after death & Credit cards after death 1 & 2

Thanks for all your replies - definately something to be aware of .

Thanks Moonmaiden - a friends Dad is dying at the moment and they have found he took a credit card to pay for his last christmas all in all he has a debt around £15K so it looks as if the house will go for a burton.
I think banks and agencies have a real nerve letting cards go willy nilly I know we are all "responsible" for our own debts. But, my sons were offered cards at Uni!! one son was offered a loan age 15 I went spare at our bank.

I got a card at age 17 (Im 53 now) I mounted up £700 of debts when my Dad found out he cut it up and he made me p[ay every penny off - it took 2 years and I havent had a credit card since then. I have a debit card but no credit card.

That advice is great.

The house may not be at risk it depends what other assets he has.  The credit card company may also be reluctant to force the sale of the house (especially in the current climate) and would probably be open to other ways of paying off the debt. 

I think this is one of the reasons insurance is so important!  I'm only 24 but I have life and critical incident cover so that there is money to pay everything off, nobody else will have to pay off my debts at such a difficult time.

> I'm only 24 but I have life and critical incident cover so that there is money to pay everything off, nobody else will have to pay off my debts at such a difficult time.

A very very sensible idea, I wish my client's were this sensible!!  However when things are tight these payments are the first to be cancelled, I'm amazed at the amount of people who have very recently cancelled unemployment cover!!!!!

Granitecitygirl I also have the same and I don't own and never have owned a credit card!  I'm one of those if you don't have the money then you just don't buy it kind of people.

I got the credit card to pay for the oven for my flat before I rented it out.  It will be paid off in the next 3 months, before the 0% interest credit runs out then it gets cancelled and chopped :-)  I forgot the pin very soon after buying the oven so it hasn't been used for anything else :-) Brain like a seive.  And I don't have any store cards - the shops are really awful right now trying to get you to take out their store card! I hope I never get into serious debt.  I've got the student loan to pay but at the mo I don't earn enough to really make a dent.

You certainly don't want to use store cards the interest rates on those would make a loan shark blush.  I saw a report the other day that Capital One have put up their interest rates to over 30% you do have to be extremely careful with credit cards