Can judgements be transferred to children upon the death of a parent who owes the debt?

If an adult child receives their parents belongings & possessions upon the death of the parent, can they be forced to pay an old judgement that is on that parents credit report? In California & parent owns no real property, disabled living on SSDI, can never work again & has several judgements from over 10 years ago before becoming disabled.

Keeping in mind that I'm not an estate lawyer (but I am still fairly confident of my answer as half my firm does estate planning) -- no. The only way to collect on a decedent's debts is to collect from the estate. What happens in a typical probate is that all of the estate assets are entered into probate. All estate debts (meaning all debts owed by the decedent) are paid first and then the heirs given their share of what's left.

But can the heirs be personally responsible for the debt of a decedent? Generally not. I say "generally" because there are always legal exceptions (for instance, if an heir agrees to assume the decedent's debts. This is rare but can happen.)

Keep in mind, also, that judgments are only good for 10 years. If they have not been properly renewed, they expire and are unenforceable.

In any event, it sounds to me like your situation involves an estate where the debts exceed the value of the estate. If that's the case, you're not getting any inheritance but you're also probably not looking at liability.

Finally, make sure you do talk to an estate lawyer. I am not one and it would be silly to rely upon my advice without consulting someone more knowledgeable than I. if a probate has been opened, and an executor appointed, you may be able to speak with that person.

Good luck.

Unless the debt is attached to some property(eg. car loan), no you should not be responsible for your parent's debt unless you co-signed it or somehow agreed to be responsible for it.

Now, they can go after the estate of your parents, i.e. reducing your inheritance.

Upon further thought, if they gave you property to avoid this judgement you may have to surrender the property to the creditor but only up to the limit of what was given to you.

In Texas, when the estate is probated, debts have to be listed. If the estate is not probated and you take property without paying the debt, you are liable up to the value of the property received. I have no idea whether CA law is the same.

What is lawful may very well conflict with what is ethical.

Assuming that the property received is not a unique family heirloom, I'd pay the debt even if I had to sell the property. Can you imagine the positive influence you would have on a creditor who got paid when the law might not have required the payment?

If it is written in the estate then yes the child is forced to pay the old debts if not then if only recving the life Insurance $$$ then no bebt needs to be paid all debts of the deceased is cancelled out.**for your anser child will not be forced to pay an old judgements**********