What happens to credit cards after a cardholder dies?

Death is a challenging topic to navigate. However, it's important to know what to do with credit cards after a primary cardholder's death.

A spouse, authorized user or other family members may need answers to various questions: What happens to credit card debt or rewards after a primary cardholder dies? What initial steps should loved ones take when managing a deceased person's credit cards?

Here, we'll answer those questions to help make the process easier for survivors.

What happens to credit card debt when you die?

If a person dies with credit card debt, their estate will be responsible for repayment.

What makes up the estate? That's the money, property and everything else the person owned at the time of death.

If an executor of an estate is named in the deceased's will, they are responsible for taking the required steps.

Sometimes, the estate isn't worth enough to pay all the debt the person died with. If nobody else shares responsibility for the account with outstanding debt (as discussed below), it won't be paid.

What to do after a primary cardholder dies

Our friends at Bankrate outlined the following process:

The first step a spouse, family member or estate executor should take is to organize the deceased's financial accounts. Accessing a copy of their credit report, which would outline all of their accounts, can make this easier.

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Then, take the required steps to stop recurring payments and destroy all cards in their name (including authorized user cards). This will prevent credit card usage in their name, which is considered fraudulent.

You'll also want to receive multiple copies of their death certificate.

After this, notify credit card companies of the person's death. Also, contact the three major credit card bureaus to request a credit freeze and to flag their credit report as "deceased."

The final step is to ensure payments are distributed to creditors in the right way, in order and on time.

Steps to take before death

You can help make things easier for your estate executor by not carrying debt on your cards and checking your credit report regularly. If you don't want to share your account login information with your spouse or executor, it may be useful to at least share a list of your current credit card accounts, including the authorized users and recurring charges on each account.

This list will help your survivors contact the credit card companies and authorized users, cancel recurring charges, and make other arrangements.

Related: Simple rules to stay out of credit card debt

Who is responsible for credit card debt after death?

Only the deceased's estate is technically charged with paying off credit card debt, which means authorized users and spouses are not usually responsible.

However, if you share a legal responsibility on an account (such as holding a joint credit card account), you may end up being responsible for your loved one's debt after they die.

Situations where a spouse or family member could be made responsible for this debt are as follows:

• Co-signing an account with the deceased
• Holding a joint credit card account with the deceased (this is not the same as being an authorized user)
• You're the surviving spouse, live in a community property state and the debt was acquired during marriage
• You're the surviving spouse, and state law requires that you pay for the debt
• You were legally responsible for administering the estate and didn't comply with certain probate law

Steps to take before death

With some couples, one person is the primary cardholder on all credit card accounts. Although their partner may be an authorized user on some or all of these accounts, this will leave a survivor without any active credit card accounts if the primary cardholder dies.

So it's generally a good idea for each member of a couple to have at least one credit card for which they are the primary cardholder — or for the couple to have a joint credit card account that they share.

Related: How to use credit cards responsibly

What can authorized users or a spouse do after a cardholder dies?

An important note is that you cannot use the credit card account of someone who has died, even if you're an authorized user or a spouse. This is credit card fraud.

A spouse, family member or loved one should notify credit card companies to close the accounts after the primary cardholder has died.

Joint credit card accounts can continue to be used without any issues. But on traditional credit card accounts with a primary cardholder, authorized users or the spouse cannot take over the account, change the name on the account or otherwise continue to use the account after the primary cardholder dies.

Related: Credit cards with the greatest value for authorized users

What happens to credit card rewards after death?

Most credit card rewards programs specify in their terms and conditions what happens to the accumulated points if the primary account holder dies.

If the deceased's credit card earned airline miles or hotel points instead, the executor should check the policy of the individual program since the points or miles will be in the airline or hotel loyalty account and not with the credit card issuer.

For more information, see our article on what happens to your points and miles after you die.

Steps to take before death

It's best to avoid hoarding points and miles since programs can devalue their rewards, programs can shut down, and your survivors may not be able to transfer or cash out your rewards after your death.

If you are sitting on a large stash of rewards, consider booking a trip with your loved ones using these rewards or at least determine whether the rewards could be transferred or otherwise cashed out upon your death.

Related: Why points and miles are a bad long-term investment

Bottom line

Death often creates a difficult time for loved ones, and credit card debt can add negativity to the situation.

With the information provided in this article, you'll be prepared to navigate the challenges that come with credit card debt and rewards after death.

Related: My husband died with 878,000 Capital One miles. What happened to them?