Final Policy Statement About Collecting Deceased Debt

The policy statement also emphasizes that debt collectors might not mislead relatives to believe that they are personally liable for a deceased consumer’s debts, or use other deceptive or abusive tactics. 


Family members typically are not obligated to pay the debts of a deceased relative from their own assets. The FDCPA limits whom debt collectors can contact after a loved one has died to people such as the deceased person’s spouse and the executor or administrator of the deceased person’s estate.

Since the FDCPA was enacted in 1977, state probate laws have changed, and now, less formal procedures often govern the appointment or selection of those who are responsible for the disposition of the estate. In numerous instances, there may be no formal executor or administrator of an estate.

In keeping with the FTC’s October 2010 proposed policy statement, the final policy statement specifies that the agency will not take law enforcement action under the FDCPA if a debt collector communicates about a deceased person’s debts with that person’s spouse, the executor or administrator of the deceased person’s estate, or anyone else who is authorized to pay the debts from assets in the estate.

The final policy statement also states how debt collectors may communicate with family members and others to locate someone who is authorized to pay the deceased person’s debts from the estate, and specifies that collectors can not mislead individuals into thinking that they have the authority to pay the decedent’s debts when they do not.

It also specifies that, in seeking to locate someone who is authorized to pay the deceased person’s debts from the estate, collectors may not reveal or refer to the debts, but might say they want to discuss payment of the deceased person’s bills. Also, in keeping with the FDCPA’s prohibition on unfair, deceptive, or abusive collection practices, debt collectors can not contact family members and others at unusual or inconvenient times or places.