Legal Question in Bankruptcy in California

Re: My husband passed away

I would list them. I've seen clients before who mistakenly believed that a debt was in the name of only one spouse. In the description of the debt, you can include a brief description of the debt, the belief that it belongs to your husband and list the debt as disputed. You should list ALL potential debts even if you do not believe that you owe them.

Please accepted my condolences for your loss.

Re: My husband passed away

I am so sorry.

You should list his debts, for your own protection. If you wish, you can list them as debts incurred by your deceased spouse.

I hope you recover from all these hardships real soon.

Re: My husband passed away

First, I am so sorry to hear about the loss of your husband. It sounds as if you were not expecting this, and irrespective of that, its never easy to lose a loved one. Please know that my condolences are with you.

As to his debt, you can include his bills, however, unfortunately his obligations become obligations of his "estate," and as such, unless his estate were to file bankruptcy (and I am not recommending that), your bankruptcy discharge only discharges any potential obligation you may have had to pay his bills. As for his debt, when he passed, an "estate" is created which consists of everything he owns and everything he owes. The debts generally get paid first, then with the remaining property, it gets distributed to the heirs per his will, trust or if he had neither, then according to a statutory plan.

Depending upon what your husband has that needs to be administered, you may have to open a probate in the probate court. If you do that, a notice goes out to his creditors, and they have a certain time frame in which to submit claims. If they do not submit a claim within that given time frame, then they are forever barred from collecting the claims from his estate.

I'm going to suggest that you talk to a probate attorney in your area before you do anything. You need to know what if any liability you will have for his debts, and what if any assets might be available for his creditors in his estate. Its going to be a bit complex, and certainly hard, but it is possible to resolve.

Again, my sincere condolences and I hope that you are able to find a local attorney who can help you through this difficult time.

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