Hello. Thanks in advance for reading my question and possibly providing some guidance.

I am the daughter and Executor/Personal Representaive/Trustee of my late mother's estate. Given all the property, I've not yet closed her estate because there is so much to be done -- it's been almost three years.

In my role, of course, I am responsible for disbursement of all belongings and many other duties. With respect to credit cards, she did not have balances on them. When I contacted the credit card companies to inform them of the death, they offered to transfer cards to my name. I accepted a couple of the offers. (I provided each company with a copy of the will, death records, etc. prior to transferring cards to my name).

The portion of the my mother's will titled, "Powers and Discretion of Trustee" states: Trustee has the right "to borrow money from any lender for any purpose; to extend or renew any existing indebtedness, even though the obligation incurred may extend beyond the term of the trust."

My question is: Is the above language in the will the reason for giving me the option to transfer the cards to my name?

Thank you for all anticipated responses.

EruditeOrphan:confused:

Well first depending on the size of the estate, you don't personally ever take on the debts of the deceased person, you pay all of the debts from the money in the estate. If there is enough money to pay them all in full you do, if not, you pay off according to your states laws, and inform the rest they won't be paid.

You may as a person take on the and become responsible for the debt of a person who has died, but this is normally the last thing you ever want to do.

well first depending on the size of the estate, you don't personally ever take on the debts of the deceased person, you pay all of the debts from the money in the estate. If there is enough money to pay them all in full you do, if not, you pay off according to your states laws, and inform the rest they won't be paid.

You may as a person take on the and become responsible for the debt of a person who has died, but this is normally the last thing you ever want to do.

Thank you for taking the time to respond. Maybe my original question wasn't clear:

There is no debt owed -- the balances on the credit cards were zero.

Perhaps it's merely an esoteric question. Nevertheless, I wonder why the credit card issuers would offer to transfer the cards to my name upon receipt of the will and death record. Could it have been because of the language in the will?

Thanks, again, for your time.

Thank you for taking the time to respond. Maybe my original question wasn't clear:

There is no debt owed -- the balances on the credit cards were zero.

Perhaps it's merely an esoteric question. Nevertheless, I wonder why the credit card issuers would offer to transfer the cards to my name upon receipt of the will and death record. Could it have been because of the language in the will?

Thanks, again, for your time.



I was told not to transfer my husband's credit cards into my name when the companies made that offer to me (I am also the Executrix and there were no open balances) but to close the accounts and open new accounts in my name (if I wanted new charge accounts).

My Attorney explained the importance of keeping the estate and my personal assets/debts separate and having "clean hands." In my case there are very clear lines between my husband's financial affairs, financial affairs of his estate and my personal financial affairs.

Why do credit card companies do this? I have no idea. I also furnished no one with copies of documentation, just a letter asking that the accounts be closed and giving the reason.

I knew there had to be someone with a similar experience!

Thanks so much for your input!

Yes, absolutely

I think the card issuers were just looking to get another customer. I doubt if it had anything to do with the will.

That clause, allows you to pay debts over time rather than from the current assets of the estate. This would be applicable to a situation where there wasn't a lot of liquidity to the estate and time was needed manage the assets to liquidate them. Or maybe there were income producing investments that could be used to pay off debt. Or maybe the estate needed to borrow until assets could be liquidated.