Home > Legal > Questions & Answers > Probate > If my father dies and leaves credit card debt but already put his house in atrust am i responsible for the credit card debt
If my father dies and leaves credit card debt but already put his house in atrust am i responsible for the credit card debt
Well--You are not contractually responsible for the credit card debt BUT the trustee is responsible for paying it off from the assets of the trust. If you become the trustee of the trust, you would owe a fiduciary duty to pay the creditors of the estate off. The trust is not a separate entity and the creditors can look to the trustee for payment of debts out of the trust assets. So, if assets of the trust are distrubuted without payment to them, they could technically seek reimbursement from the Trustee for breach of trust and also seek an action for constructive trust of the assets that were wrongfully transferred. I would need more facts, but in my practice, I have seen clients distribute assets in trusts without paying creditors first because people wrongfully assumed that trusts "protected" assets from claims of creditors. You should see an attorney from your state with regard to insturctions on how to distribute trust assets.
You personally would never be responsible for the debts of your parents. If they have money left in their estate, then debts get paid before beneficiaries. However, debts are paid from the probate estate and a trust passes outside of probate. Therefore, when the executor notifies all creditors, they will look to the probate estate to collect their money.
