Expert: Chris Ebert - 6/5/2009

Question
My question is as follow: I currently, reside in Texas and a about a month ago my dad passed away.  My dad a couple of couple of commercial credit cards he didn't finish paying.  The cards were solely under his name, there was no co-signor, not even my mother was authorize to use them.  Days after he passed away, we contacted the collectors to let them know that my dad had passed away and send them a copy of the death certificate.  However, the collectors still keep calling, and now are harassing my mom telling her that she needs to pay, and if she refuses to do so, they may sue her.  We are very alarmed, because first of all my dad just passed away, we are the brink of losing our home (so we no land assets), and we still have our own debt that we need to worry about.  I would like to know if this is true?  if my mother can be held liable for his debt? and if so, can they sued her, even though she was never authorized to use any of my father's credit cards?  Please all the help you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Answer
Lisa,

Even though the cards were under your father's name alone, your mother may still be responsible. Texas is a community property state. That means that community debt can be transferred to her.

To determine if this has happened you need to get the creditors to send you the documentation that your father signed. After reading the documentation an attorney can determine if this is community debt (within the marriage) or it is truly a business debt. If it is a community debt she could be sued.