Comment on Grandma is on her own

• Dasus@lemmy.world ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  I’m not sure the whole “debts aren’t inherited” part applies everywhere.

  Certainly does in my country. Although like in the rare instance there was something you absolutely wanted to inherit, but there was also a mountain of debt, you couldn’t decide to inherit without also taking on the debt. Even if that inherited thing was literally worthless and would not yield anything when sold.

  Although such an object would probably be able to gifted, but like technically, that’s how it’d go.

  But here’s the bit that actually made me write my comment:

  youtube.com/shorts/_pkNndF6O_M

  Idk how it works where that guy lives, but it’s clip from an American standup, talking about inherited debt. Might just be made up, obviously, but according to this article more than half the states still have “filial responsibility” laws.

  These laws are holdovers from a time when debtors prisons existed, says McDowell, and are rarely enforced. Their use has faded since the 1965 creation of Medicare — the health coverage program for people 65 and over — and Medicaid, the health coverage program for the poor.

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  • deranger@sh.itjust.works ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    If you read that article, you will see the exact two examples that I used for when you would be responsible for the debt. The third that I didn’t list was mishandling the estate as the executor.

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    • Dasus@lemmy.world ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      I don’t see how that explains the story in the clip?

      I don’t think the article covers all the state-level filial responsibility laws. There’s a ton of state level legislation after all.

      Or it might be that the debt the guy is talking about in the clip isn’t legally enforceable, but it sounds like debt to the state, which is why he seemed to inherit it in the first place, it wasn’t just like a regular credit line.

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      • deranger@sh.itjust.works ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        Yeah, no that whole clip is just a joke. That’s not at all how it works. You don’t inherit debt unless you cosigned a loan or it’s spousal debt in one of those common property states.

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• lightnsfw@reddthat.com ⁨17⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  My point was that if you have too much debt your inheritors aren’t going to get anything when you die so just saying that debt doesn’t get passed on like it’s nothing is kind of disingenuous. I guess if you don’t care about leaving anything to your family you don’t need to worry about it but personally I want mine to get as much as possible.

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  • deranger@sh.itjust.works ⁨16⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    It’s not disingenuous in the slightest. Debt does not get passed on, full stop. You are not responsible for the debts of your parents except for a few niche scenarios. Debts and assets are separate things.

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    • lightnsfw@reddthat.com ⁨16⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      You can inherit nothing because all the assets went to cover the debt though. That’s my point.

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      • deranger@sh.itjust.works ⁨16⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

        I don’t disagree. Do people not realize that you can’t inherit the assets of someone who has a negative net worth? That seems pretty common sense to me, and I knew that before I ever dealt with an estate.

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