The short answer
You're generally not responsible for his debts. They are paid from his estate, and if the estate can't pay, the debt usually goes unpaid.
There are four exceptions. Whether one applies to you depends on how each account was set up and on your state. Ask a lawyer before you pay anything of his from your own money.
This chapter explains how things usually work in the United States. It is not legal, tax or financial advice, and the rules where you live may differ. Before you act on anything here, check it with one of the people named at the end of the chapter.
What to do
- List every debt, whose name it is in, and your answers to the four questions.
- Ask each creditor to write to you, or to the executor, and agree to nothing on the phone.
- Dispute in writing, within 30 days, any debt you don't recognize or think is wrong.
- Ask a probate or estate lawyer which debts the estate pays, and whether any exception applies to you.
- Ask any federal student loan servicer what proof of death it needs.
- Keep paying debts in your own name or in both names.
- Check your own credit report, free each week at AnnualCreditReport.com.
What can wait
- Paying anything in his name alone, until a lawyer has gone through the four questions with you.
- Closing his card and loan accounts. The executor or the lawyer can tell you when.
- Sorting his older bills, beyond what has arrived since he died.
Who can help
A probate or estate lawyer can tell you which debts are yours under your state's rules. The ABA directory finds your state and local bar associations, which run referral services: americanbar.org/directories/lawyer-referral-directory.
Free civil legal aid for people on low incomes is at lsc.gov. A helper, or a librarian at your public library, can do these searches with you.
If a collector breaks the rules, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) or your state attorney general's consumer office can tell you what to do next.
The National Foundation for Credit Counseling, nfcc.org, 1-800-388-2227, connects you with nonprofit credit counselors.
The rules, phone numbers and web addresses in this book were checked against the agencies’ own pages in October 2026. They change, so check anything you rely on with the office itself.
From Book 2: The Money
This page has the short answer and the closing lists from chapter 7. The full chapter explains, in plain words, what exists, what to ask, and who can answer. The book covers months 1 to 6.
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