More details to this question:
We just found out my husband's mother died. They weren't close but he is the only child. We also just found out that she and her husband got divorced recently 'so the state would pay her hospital bills'. We are now worried that we will be liable for her considerable debt. What if anything do we need to do to protect ourselves? We live in Illinois, she lived in Arizona.
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As a general proposition, the heirs and legatees (persons named in a Will) are not responsible to pay the debts of the person who dies from their own assets. If the heirs and legatees receive the decedent's (person who died) assets and the debts are not paid, creditors could compel the payment of those debts from the estate of the decedent.
Answered on Jan 25th, 2013 at 11:07 AM