What happens to debt when someone dies?
23rd July, 2026
When someone dies, the debts they owe do not disappear. Rather, those liabilities fall to be settled from the deceased person's estate.
An estate’s Personal Representatives (the executors or Administrators) have duties to collect assets and settle liabilities, which includes paying debts which are owed by the deceased’s estate. All being well, the Personal Representatives collect in everything which is owed to the estate, pay out everything which is owed by the estate and then distribute what is left in accordance with that person’s will or, if they died without a will, the rules of intestacy.
What happens if someone dies whilst owing me money?
If you don’t know who the Personal Representatives are, you can search on the GOV.UK website to find out whether someone has obtained a Grant to administer the estate. You may be able to find the Grant of Probate (if the person died with a will, and their executors have obtained a Grant) or a Grant of Letters of Administration (if someone died ‘intestate’ – without a will – and an Administrator has been appointed). If a Grant of Probate is available online, you may also be able to download a copy of the will. These downloads charge a small fee. The Grant will name the Personal Representatives and provide an address for correspondence. If there is no Grant of Probate shown online, this does not necessarily mean that there is nobody acting as executor under a will. Some estates do not require a Grant of Probate in order to be administered.
When you know who the Personal Representatives are, you can write to them, with evidence of the sums due, and request the payment of the debts. It is important to remember that the Personal Representatives may well be unaware of the debt, when you first write to them. There is no need for any correspondence to be hostile. The Personal Representatives can then write back to you and: explain that the debt is accepted; ask for more information; or, if the debt is disputed, set out reasons why. The courts will expect parties to try and resolve matters between themselves first, before any court proceedings are issued. Failing to do so places parties at risk of paying the other parties’ legal costs, if proceedings are brought.
Taking further action
If the Personal Representatives do not respond, or are simply very slow in administering the estate and settling the liabilities owed, then further steps can be taken (ultimately via court proceedings) to have the estate administered. If an estate has no Personal Representatives, there are still steps which can be taken to enforce the debt, but this may require an Order from the Court.
If the Personal Representatives say that it is an insolvent estate – that is to say, that the estate does not have enough funds and assets to pay all the sums owed to creditors – then you may not necessarily be able to recover the full amount owed to you. Nonetheless, you may still be able to recover a large part of the sums due, depending on the value of the estate and the total amount owed to creditors. As a creditor, you should be paid what is owed to you before the estate’s beneficiaries (i.e. those who benefit under the will, or the rules of intestacy) receive any money.
There can be a need to act quickly in order to avoid any issues with ‘limitation’ and claims being out of time. Furthermore, delay carries the risk that the Personal Representatives may administer the estate – and distribute money to the estate’s beneficiaries – whilst unaware that you are owed any money by the estate. For this reason, and owing to other complexities which cannot be covered in this article, early legal advice can be essential.
If you’re a creditor looking to pursue outstanding debt, or have any other questions regarding disputed wills and estates, please get in touch with our Contentious Probate team.
Please note that this briefing is designed to be informative, not advisory and represents our understanding of English law and practice as at the date indicated. We would always recommend that you should seek specific guidance on any particular legal issue.
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