My husband did not inform me of his huge credit card debt after he retired a little over a year ago. Am I responsible for his debt?

Are you POA? Sounds like the credit cards need to be cancelled. Is his credit good enough to get lower interest cards through a credit union. Is the pension such that he could borrow against it to pay off the cards? Sometimes credit cards will settle for a reduced payoff under medical circumstances.

I would start by contacting a medicaid advisor and ask how this debt can be paid off with out raising red flags.

Great question! I dont8know the answer but am bumping this up in hopes someone does!

I'm bumping this up again.

I am thinking the debt may work in his favor, but I don;t know this. Good luck

I think perhaps a consult with an elder care attorney (often the first session is free) might be an idea.

What state do you live in?

In most states you will not be responsible for your husband's debts that he incurred only for himself. If he went into debt buying things for the house, you would share in responsibility. But if he went into debt on trips or buying himself a boat or hunting lodge, then no, you are not responsible in most states. There are a few community property states where you will be responsible for any debts that incurred during your marriage. You will want to check to see if you live in a community property state.

When your husband passes, creditors will have first dibs on any money he has left. This includes money that is in joint accounts if I understand correctly. It would be wise to keep your money separate from his. Debt will not count against him if he has to apply for Medicaid, though you may not want to do anything to cancel the debt during this time. Some places will issue a 1099 when they cancel debt, so there can be large tax consequences.

Hope you can see your way through this. What did your husband charge? That will be a huge consideration. If it was groceries, utilities, etc., the debt may be considered household. If it was something just for him it would be his debt.

He had charges for his hearing aid business. People would buy hearing aids, then want refunds if they didn't work out. By then he had paid other bills w this money. He owed for advertising , rent, other overhead. We live in NY state. Western NY.

I did consult with our elder atty. He said do NOT keep paying on the credit cards monthly minimum payments. Said they cannot collect from someone who has nothing except Soc Security. I am afraid the credit card companies will start calling us , send letters and collection agencies after his debts. I guess I realize I am not responsible but it still worries me. Still waiting to see if community Medicaid gets approved for him.

So, you'll have the lawyer draft a letter that you'll send to the credit card companies. You'll ignore the letters they send your husband, and you'll check caller id when answering the phone.

It sounds like the debts are business debts, which you won't owe for if your husband had a business license.

was he a sole proprietorship?

Yes. My husband had his own business. Hoping our elder atty will handle any letters or phone calls we will most likely start getting once the credit cards aren't paid on monthly. It will be worth his fee if he can help get us out of this mess. Just hoping Medicaid application isn't affected. Thank you all very much for your input.

Speed, did the elder law attorney advise you to become familiar with the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act? If not, it would be advisable.

ftcenforcementrulesrulemaking-regulatory-reform-proceedings/fair-debt-collection-practices-act-text

Just read one section at a time. There are some specific practices that have to be followed, and doing so will help you. It's also helpful to know what debt collectors can and can't do.

I assume your name isn't joint with your husband's on the credit card, i.e., you don't share privileges and liability jointly?

Speech, did your husband prepare his own taxes or did he have an accountant? If the latter, contact him and ask if there's any way these debts could be charged off as uncollectible business debts. I don't know enough about business accounting to know if such uncollectible debts could be used, together with the medical expenses for his illness, to claim that he's judgment proof; therefore, the debt collectors wouldn't be able to collect against no assets. But it's worth a try.

This is not formal tax advice BUT these factors will come into play:
1. If sole proprietorship was declared as being owned jointly by you and husband or by him alone. This can be found on the tax returned filed with IRS on Schedule C or C-EZ. This paper has a block that will indicate whether he said it was jointly owned.
2. If you filed a joint tax return with federal and/or state taxing authorities, you could be held liable for some of the business debt if you are considered one of the owners of the business.
3. If a personal credit card that was also used for business purposes is the source of debt and it's a jointly held credit card, you may be liable for some of the debt.
You need to get the accountant who prepared the tax return and your elder attorney talking to each other. If your husband prepared return himself, you need to get a good accountant and/or tax attorney to work with your elder attorney. Once they sort out what the division of the business would be, your team should be able to determine if Medicaid application will be affected. In the least you will need help later telling the IRS that any debt written off is phantom income and that you don't owe taxes on it.

guestshopadmin is correct. Find the documents for the business! My father was a sole proprietor, but put the corporation in his wife's name so he could get minority bidder status.
Bear in mind that his debt can become a lien on jointly owned property, such as your home or vehicle or joint bank accounts. Much depends on how the business is titled.

In my state when I got divorced and found out my ex had racked up all these bills w/o my knowledge, I was told I was responsible anyway as it was a community property state and debt was part of it. I walked away with 60K debt that I did not incur.

speech, not sure why just now seeing this for 3 days, sorry - question based on something similar - can you actually not pay the debt or do you just not want to be responsible - because if you actually can't they'll probably work with you on a hardship basis, even if you are joint; and re the lien on jointly owned property, will try to check with friend re their business and not sure about how titled and know this credit card and not sure how laws/requirements are but know her husband got her to sign on the loan for a boat and they've definitely held her responsible for it, lot does depend on what you've signed for, not that that helps now.

speech, sorry, was going back and reading and hadn't really registered that you'd already been advised not to keep making the minimum payments on the bills, since his only income - and I assume assets, or not? going back to the lien thing - is SS; my dad had a similar situation as far as income re a car loan he co-signed for, just that the issue was what little money he had left, which was too much to qualify for Medicaid, maybe I/he shouldn't have been concerned about it but since was a collateralized loan, but then we could have just kept it; maybe we just should have, but then that's not your situation.

GA, I know you're the resident expert here on a lot of things, but I don't think this situation would be considered uncollectible debts; these are debts he's owed on his business for the hearing aids; they were returned; just sounds like his business wasn't well capitalized and he was relying on credit to try to stay afloat - have another friend whose husband also has his own business who was doing - and to some extent still is - the same thing, just not with credit cards

Deb, I'm flattered but I am far from a resident expert on anything, although you're kind to think that.

I've only taken a few courses in accounting, which is why I prefaced my remarks that I didn't know that much about business accounting.

I think you're right on the capitalization issue, probably small margins as well.

I always thought that debts are a marital thing no matter which spouse incurs them. As a former collector, I would call the credit card company to work something out. They may negotiate a lower amount. There are also agencies that will negotiate for you. Call your Office of the aging, they may be able to help.

Oh yes, in the meantime pay more than the mimium payment. At this point it is only covering the interest not the principle.

ooh, JoAnn, you used to be one of those collectors? oh my, although, honestly, I've not found them to be as bad as these debt buyers. and I somewhat agree, although I think she just doesn't want to be responsible and no, unless you live in a community property state, which sounds like you do, nope, debts are individual, for just this type thing, but, yes, we've found them to be easy to work with; my husband just did that; one thing we have learned is they're consolidating themselves; like we have 3 that are all owned by one company and don't remember exactly what he was having worked out with that company itself but I had talked to a debt management company - guess that's one of the agencies you're talking about - or a debt consolidator, that works out the lower amount, which is okay, in their situation, where your credit might not matter, or, like in their case, where the creditor can't do anything anyway - in our case one of the cards was to a home improvement store that I hated to close and not have that availability and I guess they hadn't realized the consolidation themselves because the next time I talked to them, you couldn't not close it and close their others - all or none - hm...so - because one of them is our biggest one. Anyway she's just trying to get him on Medicaid

oh, and JoAnn, as a former collector, maybe you know more about this than I do, but we were told, though not from the credit card company itself, but from one of the other agencies, that they would not help us if we continued to pay even just the minimum, let alone any more than

GA, your "expert" rep was mentioned on her, maybe not in relation to this situation involving accounting, but the caregiving in general.

I, like you, have taken a few courses in it as well but far from a CPA.

But guess meant small margins as well, when said capitalization, really probably more so, because the caps would be assets more so than income, just point being business sounds like it was being run on credit.

Debsdaughter, really. What do they want u to do? You don't want to be late because that is a late charge on topnof the finance charge that is taken before they deduct your payment. This is why people owe so much on credit cards they don't pay off monthly.

I also worked for Penny's catalog taking peoples card payments. I was shocked when I found out how credit cards work.

First of all, you need to go to Social Security and get yourself made "Representative Payee". SS has a form for his doctor to fill out stating his dementia will be permanent. SS does not recognize a POA, so it is vital you get his payments sent with a separate account naming you as RP. Chase bank made me open a different account, and you will be reporting every year how you spent his money. Next, I can recommend American Consumer Credit Counseling (consumercredit.com) to put him (you are not responsible for his debt) under a negotiated payment plan with reduced interest rates. ACCC charges $5.00 per account up to $35.00, but never over that amount. The money goes from you to them to the creditor, and that's how you save on interest and reduce the amount sooner. They have been handling my accounts for over a year and I have been satisfied. You can see your accounts online and it is very safe.