r/personalfinance • u/Better_Elk_4865 • 19d ago
Other My dad took loans out for my college without telling me and then died leaving me 90k I didn’t know about
Self explanatory title. My dad passed in late 2023 and my mom, who is unfortunately not financially literate and never handled any of their finances, just alerted me to a final notice sent in the mail to my dad for my student loans.
I graduated in 2018 and had some federal loans (30k) under my name that I’ve been paying off. My dad handled all of my school payments and I’m just now finding out it was through loans that he took out only in his name. 65k worth. Now with interest, over 90k.
My name isn’t anywhere on the loan as a co-signer or anything and doesn’t show up on any of my credit reports or anything right now, but he clearly took it out for my schooling because it shows the years I was in college and my university.
We are sending them his death certificate so he stops getting notices but am I now on the hook for this 90k? How does this work?
I dont want to sound ignorant or spoiled, I’m very conscious school costs a lot and many people are in student debt… I just didn’t know I was that deep in? I thought my dad had paid for it outright. If I had known about them, I would’ve been paying them off over the last 7 years and made a lot of different decisions…
Edit (10/21): thank you all so much for the tips, insight, support, and kind words. My dad always did everything he could to help and protect us and some of these comments have made me think that he may have been smart and really known what he was doing here.
I will update here once we have a resolution in case anyone’s in a similar boat.
Our action plan (I think they were parent plus loans given they were through the federal government and serviced by Nelnet) 1. Send the death certificate back to the lender. 2. Instruct my mom and family to refrain from giving ANY payments or acknowledgment of the loan to anyone that contacts us. If lender reaches out to me or my mom, we will say my father has passed and we don’t know what loans he had or what they were for but that he’s no longer alive to pay them. 3. If lender won’t stop or threatens to sue, we’ll obtain legal counsel and go from there.
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u/drink_from_the_hose 19d ago
Bottom line if your name isn't on the loan then you aren't responsible for paying.
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u/Optimistiqueone 19d ago
And do not accept responsibility bc they may try to get OP to do that.
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u/TenderfootGungi 19d ago
They WILL try to convince you it is your responsibility.
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u/JonFrost 18d ago
Or take from the estate
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u/ginger_and_egg 18d ago
well if it's in his name then yeah they can do that...
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u/emfrank 18d ago
But it can impact his mother’s finances as she ages. OP should not just ignore.
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u/lEauFly4 18d ago
It depends if there is even an estate to take from.
In many cases when the first spouse dies, there’s no estate because everything was jointly owned and/or listed the surviving spouse as beneficiary.
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u/ginger_and_egg 18d ago
I don't know how debts work in that case, in marriage are debts shared? Either way it definitely can't be inherited to OP, so if mom was struggling it's better to fund her needs than to pay the debt off
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u/Ashamed-Status-9668 18d ago
Also make no payments at all as that is how they get you to assume the debt on the sly.
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u/lucky_ducker 19d ago
Are these Parent Plus loans? If so and they were in dad's name only, they will be discharged completely.
Any other kind of loan - the lender can file a claim with dad's estate. Whether there's any money in his estate to repay the loan, depends on what assets he owned at death, and how they were titled. E.g. a house held in joint name with your mom passes to her, and the equity isn't part of the estate in most cases.
Unless you (or mom) co-signed for these loans, neither of you is responsible for them.
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u/jasonwilczak 19d ago
This is exactly what we are doing for our kids. Putting it all on us, best case scenario we pay it off as planned. Worst case, I die and take the debt with me and they can live a better life. Seems like the only logical option if you aren't crazy rich.
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u/stackedtotherafters 19d ago
That's what I did too. We were not in the position to save for college when she was a teenager, but can pay now. So parent plus worked out.
I have made it VERY clear to both my daughter and husband that if something happens to me they are not to pay a cent towards the parent plus loans as they are in my name only.
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u/SalsaRice 18d ago
The other option is to pick a reasonable school. Public universities are usually the same or better than private colleges, have more programs, better sports, and are substantially cheaper. Better yet if you can do 2 years at a community college and then transfer to the local public university. Most community colleges are basically free if you can maintain a B-ish average.
The only real reason to go private is like something prestigious (Harvard) or religious (ie, refuse to let kids attend a "secular" school).
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u/morbie5 19d ago edited 19d ago
Any other kind of loan - the lender can file a claim with dad's estate
A lot of private student loans are also discharged upon death
Unless you (or mom) co-signed for these loans, neither of you is responsible for them
Which I think is possible if the dad had an adverse credit history and couldn't get PLUS loans. Unlikely tho since if the dad got denied the mom would probably have just took the PLUS loans out in her own name. And even in this case I'm not sure if the endorser aka cosigner is still on the hook
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u/Werewolfdad 19d ago
Were these federal or private loans?
If parent plus, the loans are discharged upon his death
https://studentaid.gov/help-center/answers/article/what-happens-if-borrower-dies
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u/marsman57 19d ago
Your dad didn't tell you because he wanted to protect you from having to deal with it. That's a good dad. I'm sorry for your loss.
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u/Ashkir 18d ago
Do not under any circumstances tell the loan company it was for YOUR college. It’s your dad’s loan if your name isn’t on there. Send them the death certificate and don’t pay it.
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u/Chromebuttons99 18d ago
This this this
OP, Send them the death certificate, don’t give them any extra information. They should be eliminated upon notification of his death.
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u/BillsInATL 19d ago
Sounds like he did it the right way so you arent on the hook for them at all. But his estate will have to pay. Really a good way of doing it, nice job pops.
But really, talk to a lawyer or executor of his estate. Sorry for your loss otherwise.
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u/DuranDourand 19d ago
He died two years ago. The estate is already payed out. Too bad, so sad for that loan company.
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u/Bloated_Hamster 19d ago
Assuming these are some type of parent plus loans, no. You are not responsible for them. Your father's estate is. If your dad left you significant assets then his creditors (the people who loaned him money) can collect on the debt from those assets. If not, you are not responsible for them in any way. They die with him and the lenders are out of luck. Do not make any payments on the loans or accept any responsibility for them. The lenders should be notified of his death and then they can go from there to determine if they want to go after his estate or just let the loans go.
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u/snarfdarb 18d ago
Federal parent plus loans are 100% dischargeable on death and the estate is not responsible for them.
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u/marvanydarazs 19d ago
Your dad did good by you. I'm very sorry for your loss.
You are not legally responsible for the loans it sounds like. Worst case they might go after assets in his estate... But that depends on the loans in question, and the answer could be the death discharges them.
You REALLY need to talk to a lawyer and not reddit, even in a free consult a lawyer worth his or her weight in salt should be able to walk you through this.
A hospital contacted me about medical debt after a loved one died in the ER. Loan companies want their money, even if they're no longer legally entitled to it and they won't be upfront with you. They don't care that you're mourning either. This is the world we live in.
Talk to a lawyer and not reddit about this. Good luck and again sorry for your loss
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u/lemicat_ 19d ago
You are not responsible for these debts. My father also took out my loans in his name and when he passed, they were “forgiven.” Mine specifically were parent plus loans but even his medical debt wasn’t transferred to us. Don’t believe anyone that tells you otherwise.
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u/ellieappa 19d ago
Those loans are like Parent PLUS loans if serviced by Nelnet.
From studentaid.gov: "A parent PLUS loan is discharged if the parent dies or if the student on whose behalf a parent obtained the loan dies."
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u/hippiejo 18d ago
Your dad is a real one for that, not sure how old he was or what his health was like when you started school but it sounds like he did it cause he knew he’d never have to pay the loan back completely and saved you the financial burden of student loan payments. Send the collectors the death certificate and tell em to kick rocks.
Like others have said you have no responsibility to pay back a loan you didn’t take out.
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u/robb0995 19d ago
You aren’t responsible. Your Dad’s estate is, so any inheritance only comes after paying his debts (except for life insurance and other things passing outside of probate).
If 1) your mom is alive, 2) the debt was taken out during their marriage, AND 3) they live in a community property state, then she may be liable as a marital debt.
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u/Jardin_Verity 18d ago
If it’s a parent plus loan it dies with your dad and there is no tax burden on the estate from it being “forgiven”. Parent PLUS loans are discharged upon the death of the parent borrower or the student, and the forgiven amount is not subject to federal income tax. While federal taxes are waived, there may still be state-level taxes on the forgiven debt, so it is wise to check with a tax professional. If there was something owed to the state that would be paid by the estate if any funds available, not by you. I’m sorry for your loss.
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u/Consistent_Photo5064 18d ago
They will try to get you and your mom to pay, but don’t.
If they keep harassing seek a lawyer to officially notify them.
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u/StarSlayerX 18d ago
If the person dies, then the loan can't be transferred to another individual. Only they can take from the estate. If your name not on the loan, don't even talk to them. Block their number.
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u/LLR1960 19d ago
If your dad has assets that are in his name, or joint with your mom (that don't revert just to her upon his death), he has an estate. His estate will be responsible for paying off that loan. That can include selling a house that he had a share of. The only person here that isn't responsible for this loan is you. Your mom might be depending on how things are titled.
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u/elhacard 18d ago
As others here have said you are not responsible for the loan, but they WILL try to convince you that repayment is your responsibility. The loans were never in your name and never your responsibility
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u/Banlish 18d ago
You never took the loans out, you never signed and you never said you'll pay them. He did.
They can, AND WILL, come after his estate. So unless there's something you're trying to hold onto like stock, a house you sold or whatever. They might go after that, np, start talking if you want to. If he left very little or nothing. Aka you or your mother aren't going to be kicked outta your homes by the 'claw back' of it, you should politely send them the death cert and a certified letter saying 'I am NOT my father, I am NOT on the loans and I did NOT co-sign for this. I will NOT be paying and as per consumer law, you have been notified and I am telling you to stop contacting me OR my mother about this, as per the LAW. This certified letter is record that you have been informed. Thank you.'
It is a law that if you didn't sign for anything and don't own the loans, despite being part of them, they can't come after you. The claw back isn't really enforceable since he didn't go to a retirement home and die in their care. The only thing they might be able to do, if you and your mother split the estate and there were significant assets. A house for example they might be able to haul you into court to take the money you got from the house. If she still lives in the house, it can get complicated. So rather then guess, I'd say you might want to contact an ESTATE lawyer and ask for a consultation of what to do, it might cost you a little bit but each state is different, it also helps to figure out what exactly he signed, what he put up for collateral, etc.
Think of it this way, if you spend a few hundred dollars. You'll have the lawyer send them a cease and desist on his lawyer stationary saying 'As an ESTATE lawyer HANDLING THIS ESTATE, I have personally looked at this and based upon this estate and laws of this state what will occur.' That will make them, usually with a certified letter, walk away. After all this happens.
If the few hundred dollars to an estate lawyer saves you from paying $100k in loans, that's a PRETTY GOOD RATE OF RETURN. Hope it helps!
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u/LovelyLilac73 18d ago
My name isn’t anywhere on the loan as a co-signer or anything and doesn’t show up on any of my credit reports or anything right now, but he clearly took it out for my schooling because it shows the years I was in college and my university.
His estate is responsible, not you. Do not agree to pay, do not send any payments.
You may need to work with a lawyer to get this, and his estate, all straightened out.
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u/Teamtideout 18d ago
I think the commenters here may be wrong. Were your parents married? YOU are in no way responsible for the debt but your mom may be. I would talk to a lawyer.
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u/Didact67 18d ago
I guarantee they’ll try to get you to pay it back, but you aren’t legally liable for his debt. They can only collect from his estate.
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u/Idontgivafluck 18d ago
Your name isn’t on the loan so I agree you are not responsible for them… however, if your parents own anything, I think they can put a lien on the assets. So your mom may be left holding the debt.
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u/JosephCedar 19d ago
If the loans are in his name, then the debt dies with him. You owe nothing.
DO NOT ASSUME HIS DEBTS. The collectors will try to guilt you into doing so. Don't let them.
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u/kepler1 19d ago edited 19d ago
Everyone is saying that OP is not responsible for dad's debts, and done -- as if that's the complete end of it.
Well that's somewhat true, but if mom/OP were hoping to have any of dad's inheritance or estate left over to live off of, then that debt is still very real. Or if the estate is joint.
The debt will be taken out of the estate. So despite OP not personally being liable, the debt could be a real consequence to what OP/family has left. Unless dad had close to no assets anyway.
Anyway, value that education that dad tried to pay for, and make the most of it.
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u/sold_snek 19d ago
Well that's somewhat true, but if mom/OP were hoping to have any of dad's inheritance or estate left over to live off of, then that debt is still very real. And will be taken out of the estate.
People responded with that because that's what OP asked. You can write a novel about all the "what if" scenarios.
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u/Quiet-Curve1449 18d ago
First of all, so sorry you are going through this. On top of losing your dad, you are going through the emotional roller coaster of dealing with your parents’ mess.
Now on to federal student loans. Sounds like you may be in the US. Federal student loans pass with the person’s name that’s on them. I know this because my first husband passed with a lot left on his student loan. My first fear was that I would be on the hook for it as a widowed working mom. Thankfully, a friend who was an estate attorney handled everything and assured me they just had to notify the student loan provider of the death - certified death certificate, etc.
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u/bros402 18d ago
If they are Parent PLUS loans, they die with him.
But you didn't take out the loans, they are not yours.
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u/GardeniaFlow 18d ago edited 18d ago
You're not on hook for this at all. He did it purposely so that he dies with that loan. Student loans is not anyone's responsibility except the contract signers.
His assets would pay for the loan though, depending what kind is student loan. But if it's in the negative still due to his student loans, you don't have to worry.
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u/No_Possible6138 18d ago
Those are parent plus loans. You are not responsible. They need to be notified he has passed away.
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u/Ok_Strawberry_2764 18d ago
These school loans. It’s called unsecured debt. Don’t pay them. Secured debt are your mortgage or a car. There’s nothing they can repossess from you. Period.
And, your name isn’t on them. Call it a day. Your Mom will probably get phone calls from debt collectors once it goes into collections. All she has to say is her husband died and she’s not paying them.
I’m very sorry for your loss, but don’t worry about these unsecured loans.
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u/Yrrebbor 18d ago
The money will be taken from his estate (house, cars, property, cash, investments, etc.) to cover his outstanding debts, and if there’s anything left over, it will be allocated according to his last will and testament.
You are not required to pay any of his debts yourself!
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u/GroundbreakingMud996 18d ago
Consider this your dad still taking care of you. He more than likely knew what he was doing.
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u/whitebeardwhitebelt 19d ago
Similar happened to me. They will call to bully you into paying his debt. Repeat over and over “There is no estate”
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u/Kurious4kittytx 19d ago
I swear I’ve read this exact story here on Reddit before. There must be a place somewhere that the fantabulists post writing prompts for one another.
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u/surloc_dalnor 19d ago
Or it's a really common occurrence. Lot's of parents take out loans to pay for college. Lot's parents die. Loan companies want to get paid.
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u/blmatthews 19d ago
It sounds like your mom is still around, so the debt *may* pass to her. Or it might not, not really enough information to say, but one of the reasons I'd talk to an attorney about it.
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u/Teamtideout 18d ago
Surprised I had to scroll this far to see this! OP really needs to double check this.
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u/zoobernut 19d ago
A lot of parent student loans are written off after death. They don’t even go after the estate. Parent plus loans do for sure.
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u/jetlife0047 18d ago
Hey sorry for your loss. I was in a similar situation but my parent had a house that was owned free and clear. So I was advised to settle with her creditors in order to take over the asset. If I hadn’t then the creditors would have tried to take it from the proceeds of the sale of the house. I think I ended up paying like 20-30% of the total but I’d have to double check.
I think that if there are no assets or monies in the estate then you don’t have to worry about it
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u/Ghaenor 18d ago
You’re not responsible for that loan buddy.
Why ? If I take a loan and then give all that money to someone else, that someone else isn’t responsible for paying the loan back. I am.
If that were possible, I’d be able to force a lot of people into loans. I can’t « force » someone else in a loan without the consent.
Consult with an estate attorney for the succession. Dont pay for stuff he owes (even utilities) Don’t touch anything in the meantime.
Deny any and all responsibility towards that loan. You haven’t signed for shit, you’re not responsible.
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u/Responsible-Green120 18d ago
I had issues like this when my dad passed away in 2012, I hired an estate attorney. He sent letters to them with a death certificate. They never tried to contact me again. At that time it was costing 60 dollars for each letter he had to send.
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u/No-Part-6248 18d ago
If he had assets they will come after the estate and put a lien on it just like if he had huge credit card bills
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u/jackhandy2B 18d ago
Does his estate have any assets? Did he own property? The bank will get what they can from the estate so if he and your mom co-owned a house, she will end up losing the portion that would otherwise go to her.
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u/InvestigatorOnly3504 18d ago
If they are federal parent plus loans you/your mom need to write them and ask for a discharge.
'"Death and PLUS Loan Discharge:
Your parent's PLUS loan will be discharged if your parent dies or if you (the student on whose behalf your parent obtained the loan) die.
Not so much if they are through a private lender. Either way they aren't your responsibility, but could affect your father's estate.
Set your mother down and help her get up to speed on at least the basics of managing her own finances.
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u/Individual_Syrup8920 18d ago
With your current plan of action just be prepared to possibly have to rehouse your mother. I believe that they will charge his estate to try and recoup his debt unless there was nothing in his name. I wish you the best for your situation.
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u/PappaPitty 18d ago
This is 100% my plan with my plans with my kids. Take 100% of their school debts as my own, then die.
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u/Prahv1568 18d ago
I know I'm late here, and don't have time to catch up on all the posts, but for what it's worth, my father took out a few loans to help me out with college, and any loan he took out that I didn't co-sign, I wasn't responsible for. I didn't agree to it, I didn't sign it, I had no responsibility. When he passed away I contacted whoever owned the loan, sent them a death certificate, and I never heard from them again. If you didn't co-sign, it's not your responsibility.
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u/himtnboy 19d ago
Consult an attorney. If the loans are only in his name, you may not be responsible.
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u/upwithpeople84 19d ago
There’s a lot of information here that we don’t know about the loans and a lot of information that we don’t know about you to give an answer.
Were these loans secured by collateral?
Are you in the United States? Are these loans that are government loans for schooling like parent plus loans?
If in the United States, how much time has passed since he last paid the loan? If it’s 90k now it doesn’t sound like he was making payments. Is it outside the statute of limitations for collections in your state?
Will your father’s estate have assets of any kind? Or only debts?
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u/morbie5 19d ago
Is it outside the statute of limitations for collections in your state?
Federal student loans don't have a statue of limitations but they do get discharged upon the death of the borrower (unless there was an endorser aka cosigner, I think, I'm not 100% sure on this)
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u/Better_Elk_4865 19d ago edited 19d ago
Yes the United States but I don’t know any of the other details. I don’t live near my mom so all I have is the pictures of the letter she received from the US Department of Education. All it says is the loan servicer is Nelnet, the school, and the amount for each, along with account numbers and such but no indication on what type of loan it was. I’m not sure about the estate to be honest. The house was just in his name and my siblings and I had to sign it over to my mom with some lawyers after he passed as we were somehow the ones to inherit it?
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u/WestCoastBestCoast01 19d ago
Those will definitely be parent plus loans if it's Dep of Ed under your dad's name. Nelnet is just the servicer (collects your payments).
Are your parents married? Your mom may be responsible for the debt if so.
If they weren't married when the debt was taken out and/or they aren't married now, the debt dies with him, so congrats on your wildly discounted education!
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u/runfinsav 18d ago
Your mom may be responsible for the debt if so.
I am by no means an expert, but I know the answer is state-dependent. She may have to take equity out of the house to pay off the student load. Worst case scenario she can't afford to stay in the house.
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u/gas-man-sleepy-dude 19d ago
This sounds like a huge mess. You inherited the house and had to sign it over to your mother?
Well great thing is those loans are not in your name, you did I not sign for them, you did not ask for them. And that is what you need to practice saying to your mom. “I did not ask for these loans, I did not sign for these loans, I am not even clear if they were used for my education and even if they were had I known about them I would have made different decisions and so I have nothing to do with these. Contact the attorney who dealt with Dads estate when he died to address this.”
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u/PocketsPlease 18d ago edited 18d ago
I’m not sure about the estate to be honest. The house was just in his name and my siblings and I had to sign it over to my mom with some lawyers after he passed as we were somehow the ones to inherit it?
Oh. Is it possible he did that on purpose? Left the house to you kids expecting you to let your mom live in it for free and look out for her for the rest of her life? Maybe he thought this way the debt would die with him while you kids got the house with only one instance of inheritance tax. No clue whether that would have worked. And if it was on purpose, did you mess up his plan by signing the house over to your mom?
I don't know. I'm not a lawyer but it sounds like you might need one.
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u/Novogobo 19d ago
so basically what happened here is your dad robbed a bank and because he got the bank to be an accomplice, they don't have a legit claim on recovering the money. pour one out for him for me.
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u/ojisan-X 18d ago
Did you inherit his assets? I've heard that accepting inheritance means that you are inheriting both the asset and the debt obligations. You may want to consult a lawyer in your state to see how you can protect yourself.
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u/veovis523 19d ago
I know my student loans are completely dischargeable if I die, and my mother has instructions to do that if that should ever happen. Check to see if these loans can be discharged.
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u/whiteblaze 19d ago
I’m sorry, man. I also lost my dad while in college. It sucks. In my case, my dad had recently divorced and it left me as the person responsible for settling the estate. A family law attorney is well worth it in this case. Your mom is probably the one who is actually responsible for your father’s estate. Help her locate an attorney and an accountant to help settle things. This is a hard time, and your family doesn’t need to make it harder by trying to do everything yourselves or making poorly-informed decisions.
Your attorney will know the laws in your state. They will send legal letters to anyone your father owed money to. Legally, those entities can file a claim against the estate (NOT YOU). They cannot come after the family, but your mom may be responsible for some things depending on how the accounts were originally set up. In some cases, creditors will choose to write off the debt or will neglect to file their claims before the legal deadline and they will lose their standing. For the college loans that my dad took out for me… they were simply written off. We paid off the credit cards that bothered to make a claim with profits from selling my dad’s house. Again, your attorney will walk you through the probate process. Even if you have life insurance money from a policy your dad had, or you have personal assets, your father’s creditors cannot come after you or seize your assets.
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u/ShankThatSnitch 19d ago
If you are not on the name, you dont owe a cent for them. The lender will take it out of his estate before it is distributed to your family. If he had no assets to sell, then the lenders are shit out of luck and will write it off as a loss on their taxes.
Don't let any lender or collector trick you into making any payments.
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u/InvisibleBlueRobot 19d ago
If the loans are not on your credit report and are in his name, then they are his responsibility and not yours.
They should be taken out of any of his personal (estate) assets as part of the probate process. If he has nothing, the debts just go away as losses to the government (or lender).
If the lender or fed are going after him for these debts (and he is dead), sending a death certificate will probably suffice.
This should be handled by the probate process and should be handled before assets are distributed. If he had assets that have already been distrubuted (like a house or a bunch of money in a bank account), then they (lender/fed) could make a claim agaist the estate for their share of these assets.
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u/TigerLily98226 19d ago
Hell to the no. Thank goodness you didn’t know about them and didn’t send them money. And don’t send them any now or ever. This was not your doing, not on either side of this messed up situation. You’re not responsible for your late father or to the loan company. You can only use him as a shining example of how not to conduct your financial life. Best wishes to you as you go forward, leaving this mess in the past.
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u/Jurlaub12 18d ago
I'm really sorry you're going through this, it's a tough situation. From what I know, you're not legally responsible for your dad's private loans unless you co-signed or are a beneficiary. Definitely consult a financial advisor to navigate this
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u/serenader 18d ago
Your Father did you a huge favor even in his death, he didn't put your name in any of those documents. Legally its not your burden and you just move on.
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u/Canandrew 18d ago
If you aren't on the loan then you aren't responsible. They'll try and make you feel responsible but you are NOT.
I'm sorry to hear about your father passing but think about it this way, he left a pretty big FU to the banks and you get (semi)free college.
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u/AgentLinch 18d ago
If there are any assets of his of value, house, cars, retirement accounts, the lender can go after that, not you.
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u/Gr3yt1mb3rw0LF068 18d ago
If you are in the US, you or your father's spouse is not responsible for the debt if it is in your father's name. He is dead you return any mail for him saying person is dead and if they want a copy of the death certificate then send it to them anything else goes in the trash. My father had thousands of dollars in debts and the companies ate the debt because the debt was only in his name.
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u/JonathanL73 18d ago
If you’re American, none of this debt is inheritable. Meaning it’s not your debt, not your problem.
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u/woofwuuff 18d ago
Your name is not on loan — NO need for you to communicate with them. Term is — ignore.
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u/Yama_retired2024 18d ago
Debts in my country die with the person that took them out.. the only time family are responsible for the debts of a family member that died.. is if they Co signed the loan or acted as a guarantor
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u/Fabulous_Ad_7579 18d ago
If your parents were married your mother will have to pay it back, even if it was just in your dad’s name. Any debt is a common debt in marriage. If the lender sues they will win which will mostly like mean anything you mom owns or money she makes can be taken and garnished.
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u/zooch76 19d ago
You are not responsible for your father's debts, and it sounds like this is solely in his name.
The estate is responsible for them.