Comment on Grandma is on her own
Dasus@lemmy.world 14 hours agoI’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.
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.
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.
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.
Dasus@lemmy.world 14 hours ago
Forgive me for not taking the word of a random Lemming.
Yes, that’s basically how the process works. I’ve read inheritance law. (As in actually an official, graded course, albeit I’m no lawyer obviously. Just elective.) I’ve just not read ALL the inheritance law, EVERYWHERE. Have you?
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filial_responsibility_laws
#Filial responsibility laws (filial support laws, filial piety laws) are laws in the United States that impose a duty, usually upon adult children, for the support of their impoverished parents or other relatives.