08/15/2026
Dealing with the loss of a relative can be an incredibly hard time. There's a ton of paperwork and headaches that can come with funeral arrangements, accessing or closing out old bank accounts, and basically making sure that everything's in order for you to move on with your life and actually grieve.
One of the worst parts of this by far is dealing with debt collectors. They are greasy, slimy people who should never be trusted (and remember, this is a law firm saying this). A surviving relative other than a surviving spouse almost never has an obligation to pay the debts of a deceased relative - that's part of the point of probate. An inventory of the decedent's estate will be prepared and a notice is published locally. Anyone who the decedent owed money to will have a certain amount of time to present the claim.
As a side note, it is not a requirement to publish the inventory along with the notice, but the inventory or a redacted version of it is still public record in Texas. Moving your assets into a living trust will prevent anything from becoming public record after your death if you'd like to preserve your family's privacy.
The good news is that if your assets do have to go through probate, credit card companies and debt collection agencies rarely get the collection procedure exactly right. A good lawyer can guide your family through this process to make sure that your legacy passes on to your friends and family rather than being torn up by vultures from Chase or Capital One.
