The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is a government agency built to protect consumers. Their free resources give you the information you need to make informed financial decisions. In this post, find out whether you can be responsible for a deceased person’s debt, even if it was in their name only.

Can a debt collector contact me about a deceased person’s debt when it was in that person’s name only?

Sometimes a debt collector will contact third parties (such as relatives) to get the name, address, and telephone number of the deceased person’s spouse, parent (if the deceased person was a minor), executor, or administrator. Debt collectors usually are permitted to contact such third parties only once to get this information, unless the collector reasonably believes that the information provided initially was inaccurate or incomplete, and that the third party now has more accurate or complete information. But, collectors cannot say anything about the debt to the third party.
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