Seriously, who is dunb enough to pay debt after a person is dead?  Does it really matter how slick talking or convincing the person on the other end of the phone is?  As mentioned in the article but not by name, once the estate goes through probate (the legal process of administering the estate of a deceased person by resolving all claims and distributing the deceased person's property) the dead owe no one.

Not surprisingly, given how the value of their portfolios has shrunk, “Affluent investors losing faith in advisers.” A recent U.S. survey shows that “36% of ‘millionaire households’ were unhappy with their adviser’s performance, while only 14% said they planned to make more use of advisers in the future.”

Via Stock Research Portal (www.stockresearchportal.com)

Who can we trust anymore?

Okay, my favorite thing is that the state of California recently sent me a "bill" for my father's alleged "tax debt." The state claimed my father, who died in 2005, owed them $700. Well this is complete b.s. because my father never lived in California and never had any income whatsoever in California. Ever. His estate was settled years and years ago. The only reason there was a California address for them to send the "bill" to was because as the executor of his estate, I have a California address. I threw the whole thing in the trash.

I've known people, some who have passed on, who would be horrified to know that their debts were not paid after they passed away. After all, those debts would then be passed on to other card holders in one form or another, which isn't fair to them, either.  Nor would it be fair to say that the company should just eat the cost when the debts were made fair and square.

Now, that doesn't mean that the relatives should pay from their own assets, but if the deceased left behind money then I do think that it is reasonable that their debts be paid off after things like funeral arrangements are paid for.  

Of course, if I were to come into a large inheritance (ha!) from someone who owed a lot of money to others, I admit that I might be tempted to keep it all.  

However, what I find absolutely appalling is that their are those that are terminally ill (or even just planning bankruptcy for that matter) and use it as an excuse to spend money that isn't really theirs, knowing that the debts won't be repaid.

Meg from FruWiki,

Welcome to Earth. Are you kidding ? Lenders all over have a built in cushion to cover these things because they know they will happen. The death rate in this country is a pretty steady rate. About 825 people a year die for every 100,000. Lenders figure a bad debt percent based on this.

Mike9191,

There's no reason to be insulting -- and no, I'm not kidding.  How do you think those lenders make up that bad percent? Where do you think that cushion comes from?

Anyhow, I guess I was just raised differently because I don't believe that it is fair to expect others to pay your debt when you made it fair and square. And when you don't pay your debts and just leave it to the company to absorb, then that is exactly what you're doing because it gets passed on to others.

Just in case it wasn't 100% clear, though... I do not in any way condone debt collectors preying on relatives of the deceased.  I'm just saying that I can understand why some people would want to pay those debts and why their deceased relative may even have instructed them to do so with the money they have left behind.