Who has your back if you and your spouse get wacked?

[MadImmortalMan]

This is just occurring to me. I never thought about it before. I need to find a person who would be in charge if we kicked it.

[Monoriu]

No one.

[PRC]

If you and your spouse have no siblings, no close cousins and no great friends... then you only have the State. 

[Ideologue]

The State is all you need, Citizen.

[MadImmortalMan]

Soooo...into the tanks. 

[Ideologue]

To be clear, I am perfectly willing to take any Languishite's property in the event of their demise, if that's what you're asking.

[Monoriu]

To be clear, I am perfectly willing to take any Languishite's property in the event of their demise, if that's what you're asking.

Isn't it possible for someone to leave an estate with a negative net worth?

[MadImmortalMan]

To be clear, I am perfectly willing to take any Languishite's property in the event of their demise, if that's what you're asking.

Isn't it possible for someone to leave an estate with a negative net worth?

Hopefully not. That would suck. I'm the dude who would suffer from that, specifically. 

[dps]

To be clear, I am perfectly willing to take any Languishite's property in the event of their demise, if that's what you're asking.

Isn't it possible for someone to leave an estate with a negative net worth?

Generally speaking, if the debt of an estate exceeds its assets, any heirs are not responsible for the shortfall.  Might not be the case under Hong Kong law, though.

[sbr]

In charge of what?

It was a concern to me when my kids were young, but my youngest is 18 and out of high school now and I have a life insurance policy that will pay off my house and any other miscellaneous debts, so they are pretty much on their own but with a free place to live. 

My parents live 20 minutes away and are in good health (even though they are both 70+) and my brother is local as well, so I assume that they would help to settle things if I were to kick it.

[Syt]

To be clear, I am perfectly willing to take any Languishite's property in the event of their demise, if that's what you're asking.

Isn't it possible for someone to leave an estate with a negative net worth?

Generally speaking, if the debt of an estate exceeds its assets, any heirs are not responsible for the shortfall.  Might not be the case under Hong Kong law, though.

In Germany they are, unless you formally renounce rights to the heritage. Had to do that when my Dad died - he and my Mom took out a 6-digit loan for building a house, and the whole thing failed spectacularly. So 30 years later my Mom is still making token payments towards the loan, and when she kicks the bucket us kids and grandkids will have to renounce that heritage, too. Might be someone comes in to assess the worldly possessions and whether or not it's worth to turn them into cash to satisfy some of the debt, but it's doubtful as it'll be a few hundred our thousand Euros vs. 200k or something (compound interest is a bitch - no idea, though, why my Mom never filed for bankruptcy, she should easily have been able to do so, but then again she's always been a bit weird when it comes to money).

[Ideologue]

It's the same as that in America.  Well, mostly.  There are certain exemptions, depending on who you are in relation to the decedent, like a home.  But if you're a grown adult and your parents pass, owing $50k, and the estate is worth $40k, you don't get the $40k estate unless the creditors fuck up.

Which is, in fact, what my mom's creditors did, for all the good it did me.

In any event, as seems to be the case in Germany, the estate generally remains responsible for its debts.

[Ideologue]

Greater Germany, I mean, of course.  I always forget.

[Martinus]

It's the same as that in America.  Well, mostly.  There are certain exemptions, depending on who you are in relation to the decedent, like a home.  But if you're a grown adult and your parents pass, owing $50k, and the estate is worth $40k, you don't get the $40k estate unless the creditors fuck up.

Which is, in fact, what my mom's creditors did, for all the good it did me.

In any event, as seems to be the case in Germany, the estate generally remains responsible for its debts.

That is not the question that was asked. The question is, in your example, would you have to pay the $10k out of your own pocket.

In some jurisdictions you would, in some you wouldn't, in some (like Poland) it depends on some extra factors.

[Syt]

Exactly. In my Dad's case we would have been liable for his old debt.

That was 17 years ago, though; no idea if it's changed (though probably not).