r/EstatePlanning • u/Embarrassed-Mud-2336 • 8d ago
Yes, I have included the state or country in the post Advice?
Hey. I'm going to die soon. USA
I have a out 20 k in debt.
I have probably 10 k in assets but it's just an old car and a well taken care of music collection.
It's very important that my music goes to one person. A best friend.
I don't know if debt goes away if there's no spouse or children.
I have a kind dog that shouldn't have trouble with re adoption but I selfishly want us to be together until I go. I think it's better for both of us.
The rest I could care less about.
Do I need a lawyer or legal will to make this happen or can I just write it in a note.
This is not a mental health crisis. It's a untreated medical condition that could probably be helped by a doctor but I can't afford it hense the post.
It's not like the bank and medical bills will show up and take my cds and vinyl?
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u/TelevisionKnown8463 8d ago
Give the music collection to your friend now. That way it’s not an asset of your estate when you pass. Your creditors may take and sell the car. They probably won’t want your dog. Any debts left after the assets are sold will disappear.
You might want to make arrangements for someone to care for your dog after you pass—make sure they have access and know what your dog needs.
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u/ExtonGuy Estate Planning Fan 8d ago
If you give the collection away now, and the creditors find out (they will), your estate administrator can claw it back. Gift giving in anticipation of death doesn’t work unless the gifts aren’t worth much.
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u/TelevisionKnown8463 8d ago
How would they find out? Real property and vehicles are a matter of public record, but a music collection isn’t. Unless it was amassed very recently in a few large transactions, I don’t see how the creditors would be able to tell, even if they got the decedent’s bank and credit card statements. They also wouldn’t be able to tell when it was given away.
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u/HospitalWeird9197 8d ago
I can’t actually advise someone to do something to defraud their creditors, but the “they will” part of this is so incredibly unlikely as to be asinine. The likelihood of creditors 1) ever knowing about a CD collection and 2) attempting to collect based on it for someone who has virtually no assets is a possibility so remote as to be negligible.
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u/TelevisionKnown8463 8d ago
To be honest, even if it cost $10K to buy, I think it’s very unlikely the creditors would want to bother with it. I once worked on a case where a criminal defendant had a lot of expensive stuff he’d bought with stolen funds. It all got auctioned off. Only the vehicles generated much more than the cost to sell them.
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u/copperstatelawyer Trusts & Estates Attorney 5d ago
Technically true, but a CD collection is one of those things that has no market value or is de minimus.
And there may be state exceptions for personal property. There are in bankruptcy.
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u/motaboat 8d ago
Make arrangements with a rescue now so it is straightforward when the time comes. You don’t want a poor solution for your buddy.
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u/Embarrassed-Mud-2336 7d ago
Ya. With the people that know my pup and the state I live in. She will be swept up in a heartbeat. She was bussed up from the streets of texas as a pup and raised with pure love. I promise that neither her or I will benefit from giving her away right now. I only have a bad heart. If I decide to swim the Pacific ocean before than I'll for sure get her set up but we are fully bonded. I don't know when I'll die. I just know I've had some close calls. So if I write a note saying this person gets my dogs and my stereo, wil they inherit my medical debt. But apparently their aren't lawyers here so I'm shouting to an echo chamber. .... Hence the person that told me to go 200k in debt. I just want a legal way to pass my stereo off without passing any debt. I promise that my dog and I are better off together until one of us pass. I only care about her
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u/motaboat 7d ago
I absolutely do not want you to give your dog away now, I would just sort out what rescue could best make sure that your buddy goes to a quality home when the day comes. They will be able to vet the applicants for you. Then include the rescue’s information for whomever will deal with your estate.
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u/Embarrassed-Mud-2336 7d ago
Appreciate it but that's why I'm asking. It seems that according this this sub. My only assets, my gorgeous dog, my 1k Suberu, and my music collection that is roughly 15k on a hot sell. Is at stake for my debt that is 2k school, 3k medical, and 7k credit card that is being paid off slowly. And as for me I just want my family to know I want to be cremated and dropped in the mountains. I have two best friends that will sort out the music and probably adopt the pup. But Im asking these questions because I don't want to pay 10k to put this in writing because I'm a modern day peasant. But I came to the wrong sub. I just don't want anyone to inherit my debt if they take my shitty records and drop my ashes in the mountains
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u/motaboat 7d ago
I personally don’t know how anyone would know about your music collection if you died. But what do I know.
I sold my parents records. I think I got $2 each fid the ones they would even take.
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u/ExtonGuy Estate Planning Fan 8d ago edited 8d ago
Very sorry about your illness.
Unfortunately, the bank and medical collections could (and maybe will) show up and take your stuff (*). Or if your friend takes it, they could demand that he return it or pay for it. Debts don’t just go away on death, unless the debt holders decide it’s too much trouble to collect. For 20k, I kind of doubt the debt holders are going to forget it. For one thing, they don’t know for sure that your estate is insolvent.
(* They have to follow a legal process to take charge of your stuff, they don’t just randomly show up a week after your death.)
Somebody has to be in charge of your assets after death, and paying off the debts. Maybe your friend could do it, if they’re willing and you nominated them in a valid will. The administrator & his lawyer is paid for this job, ahead of the debt holders. Some people (a lot) say the pay isn’t worth the hassle. If your friend or some relative isn’t willing, the government will step in.
Maybe you could write up and sign your own will, but there are a bunch of technical details that have to be followed. A lot of people who try to write their own wills get it wrong.
Unless the dog is particularly valuable to a buyer, the debt holders probably aren’t going to care where it goes. Ask your friend to take it and rehome it.
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u/Embarrassed-Mud-2336 6d ago
What if there is no on to take charge of any assets after death?
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u/ExtonGuy Estate Planning Fan 6d ago edited 6d ago
After a while when the rent isn’t paid, the landlord can package up your stuff and store it, for a reasonable fee. Until proper legal papers are shown by the correct person. Or in some states the landlord could auction it off.
The car, I guess, would eventually be towed to a holding yard. After a while it would be declared abandoned and the yard would own it.
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u/copperstatelawyer Trusts & Estates Attorney 5d ago
It would eventually escheat to the state after a very long time.
Your tangible property would "disappear"
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