Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Illinois

The first thing is to distinguish between you being responsible from your own funds and being responsible to pay from any assets he may have held separately. For example, if you receive the funds from a bank account that was his individually, not a joint account, then you should use those funds to proportionally pay his creditors.

Next, Illinois has a family responsibility statute that would make you responsible for his medical bills and other necessities. See 750 ILCS 65/15. http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2102&ChapterID=59

Generally, you would not be responsible from your own funds for credit card bills that are solely in his name, even if you are an authorized user. The exception would be the credit card issuer arguing that the family responsibility statute applies to certain of the charges, but I would not expect the issuer to go that far. Similarly, some medical providers may not pursue their charges beyond insurance and his separate assets.

A consultation with a probate attorney is advised.

If your husband's estate is required to go through probate, you will have to provide all his creditors with an opportunity to file a claim in the probate estate. If your husband didn't leave anything of real value, you may be able to explain to the credit card company(ies) that your husband left no estate and that there's nothing from which payment can be made. As Mr. Repay indicates, there is a statute governing family necessary expenses (hospital bills are a prominent example of necessary family expenses) and how well you will fare in attempting to resist collection is a function of how aggressive the hospital and medical care providers will be. They will have to sue you to enforce collection.