Estates

• When a person dies, all of their assets become an "estate," which is overseen by an executor who is designed by the will the deceased person leaves behind. The executor must handle the assets and debts of the estate and see that assets are distributed to beneficiaries according to the wishes of the deceased person. Most debts you have when you die are paid off by your estate, if possible. If you have more debts than assets when you die, the executor must pay off as much of your debt as possible with the assets you leave behind. No one else gets stuck paying for the debts that exceed the assets in your estate unless they are jointly liable for the debt; oftentimes creditors simply do not get all the money they are owed after someone dies.
  
  

Loan Co-signers

• If someone else has co-signed a loan for you, they may be responsible to pay off the debt after you die. When you co-sign a loan for someone, you guarantee the loan by agreeing to pay it off if the primary borrower does not pay. This is a way that those with poor credit scores or short credit histories can get loans. Co-signing makes both parties liable for a loan, so if one party dies, the lender can collect from the other.
  
  

Joint Accounts

• If you hold loans or credit accounts jointly with someone else, they may have to pay the debt after you die. For instance, a married couple might have several joint credit card accounts that they pay off together. If one partner dies, the other is still responsible to pay off the debt, even if most or all of the debt was accrued by the deceased person. If you are an authorized user of a credit card, but not an actual account holder, you should not be liable for the debt.
  
  

Secured Loans

• Secured loans include things like mortgages and auto loans where the value of the asset purchased is used as collateral for the loan. If you do not pay back a secured loan, the lender may seize the property and sell it off to pay for the loan. According to an article by Liz Pulliam Weston on the MSN Money website, if you have secured debts when you die, the person that inherits the asset, such as a spouse living in your home, may have to continue to pay the loan if they want to keep the asset.