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Are Children responsible for parents debts?

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docpsb

Junior Member
Both my folks are in their 80's and now cannot meet their credit card payments. They have no income other than social security and nothing of worth in their name. The house was turned over to both me (son) and my sister 5 years ago this month and so was the 20 year old automobile last year.
They were told not to declare bankrupcy since they have nothing of value and no income from a job and no bank accounts and basically told there was nothing the CC companies can do.
The credit card debt is appoximately 100K total from 10 different cards. All charges were basically for necessities, food and medical supplies and payments.
Is the information correct that since the children did not co-sign anything with their parents they are not responsible for the debts of their parents?
Please advise.
 


seniorjudge

Senior Member
docpsb said:
Both my folks are in their 80's and now cannot meet their credit card payments. They have no income other than social security and nothing of worth in their name. The house was turned over to both me (son) and my sister 5 years ago this month and so was the 20 year old automobile last year.
They were told not to declare bankrupcy since they have nothing of value and no income from a job and no bank accounts and basically told there was nothing the CC companies can do.
The credit card debt is appoximately 100K total from 10 different cards. All charges were basically for necessities, food and medical supplies and payments.
Is the information correct that since the children did not co-sign anything with their parents they are not responsible for the debts of their parents?
Please advise.
correct
**************...
 

HomeGuru

Senior Member
docpsb said:
Both my folks are in their 80's and now cannot meet their credit card payments. They have no income other than social security and nothing of worth in their name. The house was turned over to both me (son) and my sister 5 years ago this month and so was the 20 year old automobile last year.
They were told not to declare bankrupcy since they have nothing of value and no income from a job and no bank accounts and basically told there was nothing the CC companies can do.
The credit card debt is appoximately 100K total from 10 different cards. All charges were basically for necessities, food and medical supplies and payments.
Is the information correct that since the children did not co-sign anything with their parents they are not responsible for the debts of their parents?
Please advise.

**A: this is a good Chapter 7 case. But what was the status of the bills at the time of the real property transfer?
 

seniorjudge

Senior Member
HomeGuru said:
**A: this is a good Chapter 7 case. But what was the status of the bills at the time of the real property transfer?
AND was the real property transfer a gift, partial gift, bona fide, what?
 

HomeGuru

Senior Member
seniorjudge said:
AND was the real property transfer a gift, partial gift, bona fide, what?

**A: it really does not matter on the gift issue because if the parents were in debt, say $50k in cc debt, the BK Trustee could deem a fraudulent transfer.
 

seniorjudge

Senior Member
HomeGuru said:
**A: it really does not matter on the gift issue because if the parents were in debt, say $50k in cc debt, the BK Trustee could deem a fraudulent transfer.
Good point.

There is more to this story than we know right now....
 

docpsb

Junior Member
Gentlemen,
The house was a gift to me and my sister 5 years ago. To the best of my knowledge at the time of the transfer of the house my dad owned approximately 50K total in Credit Card bills on 8 cards paying the minimum each month. He has always had a balance on his cards for the past 15 years or so.
Let me give you some background to understand the entire situation and receive your input.
After we were given the house both my parents got very ill and were in hospitals, nursing homes you know the situation. They finally reached the point about 6 months ago when all the money was gone paying off medical bills and standard cost of living expenses. They stopped paying the minimum on the credit card bills and now are receiving notices from collection agencies threatning legal action.

Our lawyer informed us there was really nothing anyone could do since they didn't have any assets in their name and no money coming in except social security and me and my sister we not libel for their outstanding debt.
Both me and my sister have dedicated the past 5 years helping them financially as best we can etc. Now I am concerned that we will be responsible for their outstanding debts despite what our lawyer has told us previously.
Also, I had a CD that matured in October for 25K and noticed my mom was on it also. I originally put her on it for a trust fund ages ago and somehow they had her down with me like husband and wife. Oh boy! I changed that and put my sister as the trust fund and took my mother off. I hope thats not a problem also.
Let me know what you think and if you need any further information.

Thanks for your advice.
 

Who's Liable?

Senior Member
Based on your parents age, there is NO point for them to file BK... Your attorney is correct... There is NOTHING the CC companies can do besides the normal, which is take your parents to court, sue them for what is owed and get a judgement on them...

If your parents were in their mid 50's or so, this would be a cause for concern, but since they are not, and getting to the age where the end is near, there is NO point in going through all that...

Let the CC companies sue them, let them get a judgement against them. it won't do any good as they will NEVER collect anything...

Upon your parents death, all monies owed will be deducted from their estate... If your parents have nothing of value, the CC loses out, their debt does NOT transfer to you...

As stated before, do NOT talk to the CC companies, DO NOT agree to pay anything back for them... The CC will get desparate for someone to pay them back and will go after anyone...

The main thing to consider is whether or not the house that was given to you as a gift was trasnfered per law...

If you do not believe your lawyer, get a second opinion...
 

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