Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Pennsylvania

Re: Deceased outstanding debts

You asked about the debts of a deceased person.

First, my condolences to you and your parents on your loss. As they say, a parent should never have to bury a child. Some debts are automatically extinguished upon a person's death. Some debts exceed a person's death and have a claim upon the estate of the deceased. Other debts that were cosigned by persons still alive often, but not always, revert to the responsibility of the living cosigner.

An estates attorney can help with the probate of your brother's estate (assets and liabilities that exceed his death) and handle the matters to conclusion.

Debt collectors are regulated by law and by enforcing the law the harassment can be greatly reduced or eliminated. It is not uncommon for debt collectors to harass the relatives of deceased parties into paying debts that are no longer owed, and in some cases which were never owed (fraudulent claimed debts). This simply preying on the grieving parties.

An attorney can help to stop the debt collectors and in some cases may even be able to obtain a judgment against them for violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. This act often allows for recovery of attorney fees and costs.

Contact me if you would like to proceed.

Regards,

Re: Deceased outstanding debts

Your family has no responsibility to pay your deceased brother's debts unless they personally agreed to be responsible. I suggest you might want to hire an attorney to get the creditors off your parents back. It should not be that expensive. Gerald Hershenson