What Goes in Debts

Created by IronClad Family Support, Modified on Tue, Jul 28 at 11:08 AM by IronClad Family Support

People are quick to record what they own and slow to record what they owe. But a debt doesn't pause because you're not there to pay it — interest accrues, due dates pass, and a family that doesn't know a payment exists finds out through a default notice or a call from a collector.

Recording your debts is as much a kindness to your family as recording your assets. It tells them what's coming, what's owed, and what has to be handled — before anything goes into default.

New to how the forms work — required fields, reminder dates, attachments? Start with Understanding the Forms.

Credit cards, Personal obligations, Debt to government & Other

These four share the same form. Use Credit cards for cards, Personal obligations for loans and money owed to individuals, Debt to government for back taxes and the like, and Other for anything else. One record per debt.

Creditor / lender (required)
Account (last 4)
Balance owed
Minimum payment
Payment due (day of month)
Target payoff / maturity date (drives reminders)

Record the payment day, and record every card: a missed minimum payment does real damage — late fees, a rate jump, a hit to credit that outlasts the debt. The danger is the card nobody knew about, quietly going unpaid while your family deals with everything else. If a debt is on autopay, note that too, so no one double-pays or cancels the wrong account in a panic.

Mortgages

Home loans get their own form, since there's more to track and more at stake.

Lender (required)
Linked property — connects to the home in your property records
Balance and interest rate
Payment due (day of month)
Maturity date (drives reminders)

A mortgage is the debt you can't afford to let slip: miss enough payments and the risk isn't a fee, it's the home. If something happens to you, your family needs to know immediately who the lender is, what's owed, and when it's due — so they can keep the payments going or make a clear-eyed decision about the property, rather than discovering the problem when foreclosure paperwork arrives. Link it to the property record so the home and the loan against it sit together.

A note on debts and life insurance

Some debts are forgiven at death and some aren't, and it varies by the type of debt, whether anyone co-signed, and which state you're in. This isn't the place to work that out — but recording your debts clearly is what lets your family, and any attorney helping them, sort out what has to be paid and what doesn't. A complete picture is the starting point for every one of those decisions.

Understanding the Forms
What Goes in Assets — for the property a mortgage is linked to
What Essential Documents Do I Need in My Vaults?

What Goes in Debts

Credit cards, Personal obligations, Debt to government & Other

Mortgages

A note on debts and life insurance

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