Spouse Debts

[sallyrowe]

my husband has been diagnosed with a terminal illness. Over the past years he as accrued considerable debts which he has been unable to pay off due to lack of income or assets. The debts are in his name only, and I need to know if I will become liable for these debts when he dies. Can anyone advise.

[NoMercy]

You need to go to Citizens Advice but I don't think you become liable when he passes away.

Sorry to hear about your husband.

[Old_Jim]

In a word, no.

When he dies, any joint property and joint debts pass to you automatically. Any property is his name only becomes part of his estate and any debts in his name are debts against the estate.

If he leaves a will, his executor applies to the probate office for probate. If there is no will, you (as next of kin) apply to the probate office for letters of administration. You put together an account of all of his assets. If these are sufficient to pay off his debts, any surplus can be distributed according to the will or rules of intestacy. If the money is not enough to pay off all the debts, the creditors each get a share. The taxman gets first pick and gambling debts are ignored.

[ladybirder]

If his estate does not amount to £5,000 sally, you do not have to get Probate.

[murraymints]

Sorry to hear your news....any debts will be recovered from his estate, get all accounts, property in your name only or it will be recoverable...

[Peter Pedant]

Sally the general answer is no
unless the debts are joint or you have guaranteed them
you do need advice - er off the internet

MM's advice COULD be taken as advising you to get assets in your name to escape ( or defraud ) creditors - narty narty - you cant do that
Hence the need for advice NOT on here.

[themas]

If your husband owns a house, or you jointly own one, his interest in it could be part of his estate. His creditors could apply to bankrupt his estate so that they could have the house sold to recover their debts. They have 5 years from the death to do this.

In my (very limited) experience creditors very rarely make use of this legal provision but if they do the consequences can be very serious - not only possible loss of the house but also having to pay the full costs (which can run to many thousands of £) of the bankruptcy.

If your husband doesn't own a property the above will not concern you. It may be that his financial affairs are very simple - you live in rented accommodation and he has no (or very few) assets or savings. If that is the case I don't think you have anything to be worried about. However if his financial affairs are at all comlex I agree with PP - you need your own advice based on full knowledge of the situation. You could start with the CAB - many of them have experienced debt advisers.