Credit Card Debt Upon Death

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LoneTraveler
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Credit Card Debt Upon Death

Post by LoneTraveler » October 15, 2020, 1:37 pm

Hello. I have 2 current credit cards from banks in the US, (in my name only). I am currently residing in Thailand on a Marriage extension. I have been married to a Thai national for the past 5 years. I want to hear from anyone who knows of my concern. I have outstanding balances on both my credit cards which I keep current by making payments on time.

If I die in Thailand with outstanding balances on my cards, will the credit companies come after my Thai wife to settle the debt? If so, and I know for certain (I cannot get a straight forward answer from the credit card companies) I will payoff the cards.

I know in the US when a card holder in the person's name only, who dies, they will still pursue the family to pay the outstanding balance which was not the case before legislation and the credit card companies changed the law.

Thank you in advance



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stattointhailand
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Re: Credit Card Debt Upon Death

Post by stattointhailand » October 15, 2020, 1:44 pm

If they cant I'm of to the shops :-k

Doodoo
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Re: Credit Card Debt Upon Death

Post by Doodoo » October 15, 2020, 2:06 pm

The amazing land of Google
Hopefully this may help

https://www.creditcards.com/credit-card ... seas-1267/

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stattointhailand
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Re: Credit Card Debt Upon Death

Post by stattointhailand » October 15, 2020, 2:19 pm

not sure that a negative mark on your Credit History is too much to be worried about when you are already dead

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Khun Paul
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Re: Credit Card Debt Upon Death

Post by Khun Paul » October 15, 2020, 4:49 pm

They can only go after your Thai wife, if they are aware you have one . In these instances less said better . I am sure unless the amount is enormous they will not batter in any event I was told years ago, dying with debt oputstanding was never chased if less than 10k pounds, things may have changed however. The thing I l;earnt if you do nopt ask they do not know and moreover they know you have never asked so they will not bother about it, what I would say, is that if your passing is imminent then empty all your American Bank accounts.

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jackspratt
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Re: Credit Card Debt Upon Death

Post by jackspratt » October 15, 2020, 5:16 pm

As a US lawyer, Admin is probably best placed to answer the question raised in the OP.

However, from a layman's point of view, if you die with outstanding debts, it becomes a charge on your estate.

Therefore if you have assets in the US, and a proper Will, it would be up to the executor of your US Will to discharge any debts before the remaining assets were distributed.

Unless a US family member is a party to the account, I can't see how the US banks(s) could go after them.

In the case of a Thai family member, it is unlikely the card company/bank would pursue the debt here unless it was a significant amount - as explained in Doodoo's link. Again, they could only pursue assets held in your, or joint, name(s).

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stattointhailand
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Re: Credit Card Debt Upon Death

Post by stattointhailand » October 15, 2020, 9:03 pm

So if you get a few days warning, book and pay for all your funeral expenses on Credit Card , add a note at the bottom of your will telling the bank to sift your ashes for their money, it's Payback time for a lifetime of Bank charges you have paid to them whilst they let someone else borrow your money

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Hoopoe
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Re: Credit Card Debt Upon Death

Post by Hoopoe » October 16, 2020, 5:53 am

I have sorted out quite a few peoples assets ,bank accounts who have died here leaving no will ,
the longest one took me 18 months to clear ,as one of the bank accounts was being used (after death ) i requested the bank to freeze the account (card was being used to draw funds ) the banks reply ,was " as you are not the account holder we can't freeze the account, ,,even when i produced a death certificate ,
So after finally getting through all the accounts (by this time i'd managed to get the pension for his wife ,company pension ) it calculated that the estate was 14,000 GBP in debt ,all the documents i'd had the wife sign , my name was on nothing ,,the banks came chasing , and sent the requests to my address in my name ,,"hmm how did they find that out"
I just reminded them of the first phone call to freeze assets , and their answer ,
So as i'm not the account holder i can't divulge any information on these accounts ,
This was for a 14.000 gbp debt ,,they never came again ,

Sam1925
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Re: Credit Card Debt Upon Death

Post by Sam1925 » October 27, 2020, 7:24 pm

Federal Law 101:
The only way and American Credit Card company can go after your wife is if she lives in the states. If she does not live in the states, they cannot make her pay anything.

EXAMPLE:
I was living in Thailand and my Mother passed away. I flew back to make arrangements and informed the Post Office to forward any and all mail to me in Thailand.

Bank of America had the balls to contact me since I was the Executor of my Mothers estate and inform me that my Mother
had a balance for $500.00 and that I am libel for such.
1. They did not have my SS#
2. I was not a co-signer

I wrote Bank of America a nice little letter stating that I live in Thailand and not subject to American Law. I also, informed them to just write the loss off since my Mother has passed away. Never heard from them again.

It was just a scam to try and get me to pay.

As stated, your wife cannot be held libel if she is not on the card along with her living in Thailand.

Spend away and enjoy life.

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deankham
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Re: Credit Card Debt Upon Death

Post by deankham » October 28, 2020, 1:01 am

^ personally I would have paid them the $500 as I consider it the right thing to do.

Now if it was $50k I'd have gotten of my moral high horse and told them to shove it!

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747man
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Re: Credit Card Debt Upon Death

Post by 747man » October 28, 2020, 10:22 am

^ personally I would have paid them the $500 as I consider it the right thing to do......

Well I Certainly Wouldn't, They've got a LOT More money than Me & THEY Ain't gonna miss 500 Bucks, So Fook ' Em !!!

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pipoz4444
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Re: Credit Card Debt Upon Death

Post by pipoz4444 » October 28, 2020, 11:06 am

I had a similar issue with American Express years ago

They contacted me several times to allege that I have not cleared my Amex Card and that I had an outstanding balance of around 5K US. To which I responded, it had been paid (given I was holding the Payment Receipt in my had my hand from one of their Branch Offices).

Their argument was, I must prove it was paid and send them the details.

My final response was "No, Amex should get their act together, as I know what I have in my hand and this is your issue to sort out with your Accounts Department. Pay me 1K for my time and I will send you a copy of the Receipt ". They eventually gave up or maybe found a copy of my receipt under their Desk.

I have never tried to get another American Express Card

pipoz4444
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