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KIRKSVILLE, MO. -- What happens to a person’s credit debt when they pass away? That’s was the topic of Thursday’s “Facebook Story of the Day”.

For the most part, you are not responsible for a deceased family member's debt.

The only way you would be responsible is if you inherit an asset that can cover the amount of debt that is owed.

Those could include bank accounts, real estate, cars, and stocks and bonds.

“Well the debt itself remains to a certain extent,” said local attorney Barry Cundiff. “A family member wouldn’t personally be liable for the debt, unless the assets they inherit can cover the debt owed.”

Under a statute of limitations, a creditor has a certain amount of time to file a claim with you in order to collect the debt that was left behind by a family member.

“For example, for a probate estate that was filed in the probate court here, then all of the creditors receive a notice and then they are entitled to file a claim for up to 6 months,” said Cundiff. “If instead it's a non-probate transfer, a lot of people use pay-on death accounts and things in that nature that doesn’t have an automatic method for the creditor to get the money, but if they aren't otherwise paid, the creditor can force the estate to be open and that money will go into it.”

Usually the safest thing to do is talk to an attorney about it and draw up an estate plan with family members before they are deceased.

“If you draw up an estate plan, you and your family members will know exactly what is at stake,” said Cundiff. “That way if you do inherit any sort of asset, you will know a head of time if you need to save those assets in order to pay off any of that family member’s debt.”

If you have any other questions on this topic you can reach Barry Cundiff at (660) 665-7785