Hey everyone, welcome back to episode 964 of Money Girl. I appreciate you spending some time with me and downloading the show. If you're new here, I'm Laura Adams, an award-winning author, on-camera spokesperson, money speaker, and founder of the money stack. That's my sub-stack

newsletter. Subscribers automatically receive my money success toolkit, which includes the exact

templates I use to manage my finances. So I hope you'll check that out. You can learn more,

ask questions, and sign up for free for the money stack when you visit laura d adams.com.

And if you've got a message, you want to leave me. You can also call 302-364-0308 and leave your message.

I would love to feature your question on a Finance Friday show.

That's our weekly Q&A bonus edition of the show that comes out on Fridays.

If you've ever wondered what happens to your or someone else's debt like mortgages,

student loans, auto loans, and credit cards after you die?

This podcast will review what you need to know.

You'll learn about situations when surviving family members can and cannot be held responsible

for repaying creditors.

So before we can talk about debt and death, we really need to

understand something called an estate. So after you die, everything you leave behind

becomes a legal entity called your estate. Estates are not just something that wealthy people

have. And estate is, again, it's what you leave behind. It could be small or it could be huge. It's going to include things like your cash accounts, all your financial accounts, your investing accounts, your real estate, your assets like vehicles, your personal belongings, and of course, your debts.

Now, what happens to your estate depends on whether you die with or without a last will,

and the state where you lived.

And probate is the legal process where a court reviews and validate your will if you have one and

they oversee the settling of your estate. Every estate must have a named executor whose job is

to distribute your property and pay your outstanding debts like bills, loans, and of course, taxes.

Now, if you don't create a last will with an executor, a court will

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