You are NOT responsible for any he had in only his name. Send them a letter with a death certificate. They will contact you trying to get payment. Did he have a will? If he did and left you anything that may change things. If he did not when they contact you just tell them he died without a estate. Also make sure you were not a approved signer on any of the cards. That will change things also. Hope this helps.

That's not correct, I am sorry. California is a "community property state" which means that even if your name was NOT on the accounts that you may still be held liable for them. If it is credit card debt, for instance, it could be deemed to have benefited both of you and you would be held responsible regardless of whether your name was on the account. The flip side of that is that you are supposed to benefit from having shared credit as well. The original idea behind community property was to help women gain credit even if they had been a homemaker instead of the breadwinner - it was meant as a protection for women. Not that long ago women had no credit rights or property rights. In recent years, with more women being the breadwinner, the shoe has been on the other foot.

It is hard to say whether for certain you will or will not be held liable for your husband's debts. Your best best is to get some legal advice. Most bar associations have a free or low fee referral program, and many have senior assistance programs as well. You would not need a lot of time with a lawyer, just enough to get a few questions answered. You can usually get an initial consultation through these referral programs for free or for a nominal fee.

If you are liable for your spouse's debts, then it can affect your credit rating if you fall behind. In the midst of grief, it is very easy to say 'so what? what could be worse than losing my spouse?' I understand that, but at the same time, ruining your credit can make it harder to get a job, a car loan, refinance a mortgage, etc. It is better to know up front if you really are on the hook for the debts instead of risking making things even harder for yourself.

I am sorry you are faced with this issue at all. Just about everyone winds up with some sort of financial crisis along with the bereavement. It sucks. But before you make any decisions, please get a bit of professional advice. In California, you can usually find the county bar association or city associations fairly easily, and here is a link to the State Bar's website page about Lawyer Referral Services:

http://www.calbar.ca.gov/Public/LawyerReferralServicesLRS.aspx

There is also some good information in the pamphlet "Seniors and the Law" found here at the bar association's site:

http://www.calbar.ca.gov/Public/Pamphlets/Seniors.aspx

I hope this helps.

Love and Hugs,
Martha

I'm so very sorry that I gave out the wrong advice. Based my answer on my situation in Pennsylvania.
My wife passed with some credit card debt. Hers was forgiven. Had no idea California was different. My mistake. Again so sorry!!

When my wife died, I called each credit card company because our two cards had been taken out by her with me as an additional signer. They said they could only get money if her estate was probated, and it wasn't. They even removed the reference of one account from my credit report. I live in WA state and we are a community property state, like CA is if I remember correctly. So just call each one up unless you need to have his estate probated, and then your attorney will take care of what needs to be done.