Credit cards if you die

[frugal-one]

I guess I thought of this because in the 70's a woman could not get a credit card unless it was in the man's name. I did, however, have credit before marrying so did have cards in my name. The credit card companies at that time required me to reapply. That freaked me out so I put the cards in my name (as main cardholder) and my husband got his card through that account. Since I am mainly the one who pays the bills that is how I have operated since. WI is a marital community property state so it did not matter. We both would be liable for the bills. However, in thinking about it... if I should die, would my husband still be able to use the cards since I am the main cardholder? The answer is no... if he tells them I am dead they will make him cancel the card and reapply. BUT if he says nothing and continues to pay the bill, he will continue to get a card in his name with me as the main cardholder. I called CitiCard and that is the response I got.

[Simplemind]

We each have our own separate VISA cards. We primarily use mine (in the past for FF miles) and he has a card on my account. He has his which he uses here and there to keep it active and I don't have a card on his. We always used it as a back up card in case something happened to mine while traveling.
My SIL just went through this when her husband died. They were on auto-pay on many accounts through his VISA. Not only was the VISA shut down but the accounts which had only been in his name (insurance, utilities, etc) were shut down with them. I would suggest folks that haven't thought about that to look into their financials and make sure they are covered for the unplanned exit of either party. Not fun to deal with when you are already upset and emotional.

[razz]

I had one card in my name for years with DH as second which he used. Suddenly, the card appeared in his name with me as the second. We talked about the change and deicded to let it go. A few years before his passing, I was strongly advised to get another in my name alone by someone who had gone through the same experience as mine.
When her DH passed unexpectedly, their joint card was immediately cancelled and she had no credit card to arrange the basic funeral expenses. All joint accounts were frozen until she got the death certificate.

I immediately got my own card in my name alone. When DH passed a couple of years later, my card was essential to have for the most basic needs. Get your own card!!!! Phone advice won't mean a thing when you need credit for the basics.

[iris lilies]

This is a good thing to know.

My credit cards are in my name and my account has only my name. Same for DH and his accounts.

[catherine]

This is a good thing to know.

My credit cards are in my name and my account has only my name.

Me too. DH uses a card that has my name on it and no one questions it.

[jp1]

This is fascinating to me. SO and I have a joint checking account for mutual expenses like rent, utilities, etc (now mortgage et al) that we contribute to equally. Beyond that we spend our money however we each want. I can't imagine not being in control of my own financial life, and I wouldn't want to be responsible for someone else's.

[Tammy]

Getting married at ages 19 and 21, we were just kids. All money was combined without discussion - there wasn’t that much of it!

Almost 40 years later, we have multiple and various accounts. Sort of like IrisLilies and her saga of trying to organize them all ... I empathize!

If one of us would die today and joint accounts would be frozen, we would each have a credit card with significant limits and no balance in our own name only. And some cash in our safe in the house. That would get us by for awhile.

But now I have these questions:

Is it common for joint accounts to be immediately frozen? How about Checking with both names on the account? I thought the surviving spouse could still use a joint account.

How long until one gets a death certificate?

I’m assuming the surviving spouse can continue to pay mortgage and utilities, no matter whose name it’s set up with? Mortgage is joint but I think the utilities are all under SO’s name ...

[iris lilies]

Re death certificates: that is one of the services of a funeral home. They give you several, but you should ask for 10 or 12. In my experience you get them right away or when you need them.

Jt. Checking Accounts are never frozen when one party dies.It is designed as an active account for multiple parties.

I have run into a problem in getting phone service adjusted because the account is in DH’s name. That was a while ago and
i dont remember details, but it was a stumbling block.

[Teacher Terry]

It takes 10-14 days here to get a death certificate. We each have a few CC’s in our individual names. DH is not good with money so a condition of getting married was I handle the money. We each have a set amount every month to spend as we wish. Big purchases we discuss.

[catherine]

This is fascinating to me. SO and I have a joint checking account for mutual expenses like rent, utilities, etc (now mortgage et al) that we contribute to equally. Beyond that we spend our money however we each want. I can't imagine not being in control of my own financial life, and I wouldn't want to be responsible for someone else's.

"In the old days" all couples shared expenses and pooled all their money, and even now many, many couples share accounts, decide on spending/budgets, etc. There are many situations where one earner has a much higher income, which makes it unfair to contribute equally to joint expenses. Suze Orman suggests you figure out what proportion each makes and then use that proportion to figure out contribution to joint expenses.

As far as the credit card situation goes, in my case, frankly, DH wouldn't be able to get a credit card. So he uses mine. No big deal. We still go over our expenses and decide on joint purchases. We still have our own discretionary money. But I've been raised that in marriage what's yours is mine and what's mine is yours. That said, yes, I've lived my life so that I wouldn't have to be beholden to him. If you grew up as a woman in the 50s and 60s and you saw how women, including your mother, were basically chattle you tend to value your financial independence.

[Tybee]

It is my understanding that if you are an authorized user on someone's card, if that person dies, you are no longer able to use the card:

https://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/sally-herigstad-using-deceased-spouses-credit-cards-illegal-1294/

So yes, you want a card in your own name, not as authorized user on a spouses card.

[frugal-one]

Just to be clear... my card has my name on it, DH’s card has his name on it. The bill comes in my name.

[Alan]

Just to be clear... my card has my name on it, DH’s card has his name on it. The bill comes in my name.All authorized users get their own card with their name on it. If the bill comes in your name that means the account is yours, not your husbands.

[frugal-one]

All authorized users get their own card with their name on it. If the bill comes in your name that means the account is yours, not your husbands.

That is correct. That is what I wanted to make clear. The thing that I think is bogus is that we live in a marital property state so you would think all credit accounts and history would be equally shared. Obviously, this is not so. Will need to get another card with DH as primary cardholder otherwise he will have difficulty if I die.

[jp1]

"In the old days" all couples shared expenses and pooled all their money, and even now many, many couples share accounts, decide on spending/budgets, etc. There are many situations where one earner has a much higher income, which makes it unfair to contribute equally to joint expenses. Suze Orman suggests you figure out what proportion each makes and then use that proportion to figure out contribution to joint expenses.

As far as the credit card situation goes, in my case, frankly, DH wouldn't be able to get a credit card. So he uses mine. No big deal. We still go over our expenses and decide on joint purchases. We still have our own discretionary money. But I've been raised that in marriage what's yours is mine and what's mine is yours. That said, yes, I've lived my life so that I wouldn't have to be beholden to him. If you grew up as a woman in the 50s and 60s and you saw how women, including your mother, were basically chattle you tend to value your financial independence.

Yes, my mom, who got married in the 50's, was the stereotypical stay at home mom. She worked as a seamstress for the first two years of their marriage to pay the rent while dad used the GI bill to get his accounting degree. After that she never held another job other than mom and housewife.

Because SO and I were both in our mid 30's when we met we were both fully established independent people. And we have different views on money. We never specifically negotiated how to arrange things but since he used to make more than me we split the rent equal but he always paid all the utilities and more of our vacation expenses. Now that we make similar amounts of money it makes sense to split everything equally. Neither of us can imagine breaking up at his point (16 years together and in our mid 50's is probably long enough to know if someone is for forever. We survived my midlife crisis a number of years ago and his 3 year bout with leukemia so I think we're good for the long haul at this point) so I don't really worry about things like that I paid a disproportionate amount of the down payment for our house. In the long run one of us will die and the other will inherit whatever they had left.