Will my family be responsible for my debts when I die?

Individually, your beneficiaries will not be responsible for your debts unless they have cosigned on a loan or some other type of legal document. Let’s say, for example, when you pass away you have unpaid credit card bills or maybe unpaid medical expenses. What happens at that point is during the probate process, those creditors will have an opportunity to put in a claim. Once they put in a claim, then the priority of payment will be determined and they may be paid out of the probate estate, but your individual beneficiaries do not bear any responsibility for those debts. Those debts are not going to follow them around for the rest of their lives.