Passing away might not end student loan obligations

Students in the United States owe a lot of money. There is over $885 billion owed in private student loans. While students are on the hook for the majority of that debt, some households are facing heart-wrenching decisions. Some families are being held accountable for student debt even after the student dies.

Market student loans have currently

There are a number of people getting student loans. There is a federal loan program that offers loans to students. Per student, $5,000 a year is offered. Much of the time, that isn't enough. Books at school cost half that alone most of the time. Private student education loans are not always government-backed and often require cosigners for students with little or no credit history. It is not that hard to get a student loan. They are easier to get than no fax payday loans in some cases. One of the reasons it is so easy, however, is because student education loans are not affected by bankruptcy — they’re practically impossible to write off.

Student loans and dying

As families in Nevada, Texas and across the country have discovered, passing away does not necessarily cancel out student education loans. If there is a cosigner on an education loan, the responsibility of paying back the loan transfers to the cosigner. This leaves several parents who are grieving the passing away of their child with the added, unexpected responsibility of paying back thousands of dollars worth of debt for their adult kids.

Defaulting after dying

Student loans that have no cosigner, much like any unsecured loan, are technically considered to be “in default” if the loan holder dies. There is estate left when this person dies. Anything could be taken to pay the debt back. The estate sometimes cannot pay the debt. In these cases, the loan is written off by the bank. The majority of the time, the debt is passed along since cosigners are typically needed to qualify for the loan.

Articles cited

Wall Street Journal

online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704741904575409510529783860.html

KCTV5

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