The scenario is like this: boyfriend has unpaid debt (either from loansharks or the bank themselves) however he died from a terminal illness before debt collectors can get to him, but does his death automatically “erase” the unpaid debt he owes as he’s gone?

The thing is, they can’t pursue him as he’s literally dead. The contract he signed prior to death only bares his name (meaning the debt can’t be passed down to either his girlfriend or family) as he’s the only signatory listed on paper (while his family are not signatories).

Debt collectors or loansharks show up to his residence only finding out from his girlfriend that he passed away (she has his death certificate to prove it), she reiterates that his debt can’t be paid the “conventional” way as he’s no longer alive to do that.

  • Zwuzelmaus@feddit.org
    1·
    2 days ago

    depending on the state, they could be legally married by default.

    Never heard that before … very interesting to know.

    But would OP say boyfriend and girlfriend all the time then?

    • AskewLord@piefed.socialEnglish
      1·
      2 days ago

      What they say doesn’t matter. The laws of the state matter, and also if the debt collector is going to go to court to argue for the case to get the debt. They’d have to make a case that proved cohabitation such as to trigger common law marriage, or collective ownership of the assets.

      It also relates to divorce. If you live with someone for 10+ years, but never marry, but say file taxes together, in some states one party could sue the other for alimony payments.

      It’s not many. There is like 9 states with communal property, and 8 with common law marriage and they are all difference in how their interpret things. TX is one large state that is in both groups.

      • IamtheMorgz@lemmy.world
        1·
        2 days ago

        It should be noted that common law marriage is EXTREMELY rare. If you call them your boyfriend/girlfriend instead of your spouse, you’re (at least in states I’ve looked into) not ever going to be common law married. If you never hold some kind of ceremony, you aren’t common law married. It’s actually way more complicated than just living together.

        Edit: filing taxes as if you’re married is also often not enough to make you common law married either, but obviously ianal and you need one if you want to know if you are common law married or not.