Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Virginia

Re: Repaying Debts

Well, you certainly do not "need" to get a lawyer as a requirement, although it may be desirable. Your first duty as executor (personal representative) is to collect all of the assets and pay off VALID debts of the decedent. If there is not enough money left, you should probably pro-rate the available assets among all of the debts, unless some of the debts are "secured" by assets (such as a loan on a car).

Many credit card companies and collection agencies will LIE to people and say that the children are personally responsible for their parent's debts or that the executor must pay out of the executor's own funds. That is bunk, and an outrageous lie.

You cannot claim that they have no estate, but there are simplified procedures for very small estates. GO to the clerk's office for the circuit court in your county and ask for the probate section. They will tell you about the procedures and the forms you need to follow, including the simplified process for small estates.

The more complicated question is whether one parent's estate must pay the other parent's debts. First you have to see if the credit cards were truly separate. Were both names on the credit card account? Were they truly separate?

Then there may be an issue of whether the credit cards were used for "necessaries" (essentials for living like food) that benefitted both of the spouses. (This is by no means clear, which means that the credit card company would have a hard time proving it as well, and it would be hard to know whether this rule applies or not. It would depend a lot on what was purchased, and it is probably impossible to prove that now ,even from the credit card companies typically MEAGER records.)