I understand the difference between secured and unsecured debt, but wouldn't a credit card company make a claim against an estate for a credit card balance?

A mortgage product is a lien on the home not necessarily the estate itself. when you sell the house you will have th payback the mortgage.

I remember thinking how 'wonderful' that is for the rest of card holders, who absorb those debts in higher CC charges. 'Course the card holder in debt has to be able to make the minimum payments along the way to the Big Goodbye -- or bankruptcy.

Sure you do, just not directly. The CC company will increase the fees to the merchants, who will increase their prices, which you pay to get the product. Everyone ends up paying for the person who doesn't pay off their own debts.

But...we still don't have a firm answer about the circumstances under which CC debts are written off. Does the card holder have to die without estate or not? Anyone?

anyone who dies has an estate regardless of whether there is money or not. the CC will decide whether it is worth it to try and collect from whatever is in the estate. the CC debt is only written off when it is clear they cannot collect from the estate.

True, but don't forget that everyone also winds up paying for all the people who charge their purchases on credit cards, including cash purchasers. Merchants who offer cash discounts are fairly rare.

All the purchasers also pay for the bad judgment CC companies make in extending credit to people who can't afford to repay. Also for the very large profit margins CC companies have enjoyed for the last few decades. And so on and so on.

You do realize, all of you, that it's quite likely you will die with CC debt, don't you? Even if you religiously pay the entire balance every month, there will still be the outstanding charges you accrued during the billing cycle you happen to die in.

So, everyone, keep those cards charged up because you never know, do you? This could be YOUR billing cycle and you could come out ahead in a big way!

But to answer the question at hand, heirs are not personally responsible for the debts of the estate. If someone "dies without estate," the CC companies can try to pressure the heirs into paying them, but they have no legal recourse if the heirs decide not to, which is what I imagine usually happens. So they will be written off in most cases, thereby incrementally increasing the cost of living for all of us who still enjoy that status.

... can the CC company hold him/her personally liable, in that s/he didn't manage the estate funds as s/he should have?

ole joyful

if the CC never made a claim it will be up to the executor to decide what needs to be resolved in order of importance (will, mortgage, cars, etc.).

If there is nothing in the estate after expenses of probate or nothing in the estate and no probate, then the creditors get nothing. But they need to be notified of the death and the inability of the estate to pay any creditors.

I'm a retired probate lawyer in the state of Washington. As I said, each state has different laws so you need to check with a lawyer.

My dad died and had a little CC debt and they tried to make my mother pay for it but she couldn't as she lost his income and was living on SS which took 4 months to receive after his death.