Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Georgia
Deceased parents debt in the state of Georgia.
If a deceased parent had debts and had
no estate plan or money in the bank,
are the children who were not
knowledgeable of such debt be required
to pay? Is this something that the
children would need to go to the state
court over?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Deceased parents debt in the state of Georgia.
Unless they co-signed the debt, children have no liability for a parent's debt and do not need to do anything at all about it. Creditors do come ahead of heirs in probate, so if they had left assets, the creditors would have collected from that.
It is wise to send a certified letter to the creditors saying ONLY "My parent has died. The death certificate is enclosed. It appears they have no assets and no estate to probate court and I am thus unable to further assist you or communicate with you. Please do not contact me further about this debt."