inheriting debt?

hi there,

my father in law is 84 and is fairly ill. he has also been fairly careless with his money and has amassed a large amount of debt. we're talking a couple of hundred thousand. before i go to my solicitor to discuss this, can anyone tell me if he dies, my wife and i will be accountable for his debt?

he owes on credit cards, bank loans, car finance, hospital fees, etc. he has no real assets, like property, etc.

i am very worried about this and him obviously, but he has left us in a very awkward spot.

what can i do to ensure i don't inherit these debts, once he dies?

The saying is that the sins of the father should not be visited on the sons and that is certianly the case here. Even if your father wills you his estate and the estate has debts you do not have to accept the inheritance. You are definatly not responsable for anyones debts but your own.
I am assuming that he has not transferred any property to you lately.

thanks for that woods. no, he hasn't signed anything over to us. his wife died a while back, and her estate was portioned out then. i assume that will not be brought back up after his death will it?

Would there be consequences if he were to transfer his house to the son prior to his death.

bond-007 said:

Would there be consequences if he were to transfer his house to the son prior to his death.

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It could be deemed that he had done it to avoid paying his debts so yes there would. Otherwise everybody would be doing it.

lastsaturday said:

thanks for that woods. no, he hasn't signed anything over to us. his wife died a while back, and her estate was portioned out then. i assume that will not be brought back up after his death will it?

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I think that you should take legal advice on this one because while his debts are not yours, the same could not be said for his wife as property is deemed to be jointly held by husband and wife.

Unless there is 2 names on the deeds. I know that form legal advice received that a husbands debts are not also a wifes debts unless they are in joint names. I take it that upon his death the estate will have to sell any property and pay off the debts and the balance distributed to the people in the will.

If the debts are in one spouses sole name and the house in the others sole name, the creditors can whistle.
Therefore any judgements cannot be applied against any property unless it is registered in the name of the debtor.

I understand that it is possible for debts to be passed if the assets have been transferred to a trust - This hit some of the Irish aristocracy in decades past who attempted to use trusts to protect their wealth.