Topic: Is it possible to inherit a gambling debt? - page 14. (Read 1965 times)

If it is loan then yes, but if it is a debt without any papers or contract involved then it's a no and things will be settled through agreement. But this will fall under the term of debt and there's no need to specify gambling as an activity because in any form, debt is debt. There are also instances wherein loans are done through unregistered online loaning applications and in any aspect they cannot force the person in debt to pay them but they often send threats ( evident in my area but I'm not sure if same scheme exists with the others, also a different story or discussion).

This is evident only with properties bought through financing in my country, again it will always depend on the contract. Familiar with this law which for me is a bit unfair on their end. They could also sue "estafa" on the loan takers end  but amounts will not stil be paid in an instant. However, there are a few instances that a gambler dies upon taking a loan which is also another angle of this topic. In most instances, they suffer from the consequences lf their actions which is taking a loan and not being able to pay it before the due. Interest wil just become bigger as the time passes by, making it a bigger burden as well. This is why such action wil never be advisable.

This is the problem of addiction, if not why will a gambler pile up debt without paying it, and allow his children to inherit it. Gambling should not be done with loans, so that it will not be a problem to pay back, because it is always hard for someone that is addicted to pay back his debt.

The family of an addicted gambler always get affected by the his lifestyle in one way or the other, and this is why we need to have self control over our gambling activities, and also gamble responsible, so that the properties that we left for our children, will not be used to replace our debts. It is normal in my country, that the family of the deceased will pay off the debts of their father.

It still depends on the contract agreement for the loan because most of the gambling loan usually done on trust basis like the forum lending section. Some loan shark just for collateral and doesn’t have a contract. Inheriting a gambling debt is not possible if the person borrow the money already died while there’s no contract between them and the lender that stated the scenario of the borrower passing away.

If I will be the one who inherit the debt then I will definitely not gonna pay for it because I’m not the one who borrowed it even if he is my parents or family. I will fight them with the court because I will not gonna settle with unknown debt.

Probably different countries have completely different laws, but as for my country, the debts of a deceased person are passed on to the heirs. This means that if the father lost and has debts, then they will pass on to his children and wife. On the one hand, this is fair, because debts cannot be written off just like that; there is even an expression - debts must always be paid. But I also sometimes think that the children and wife might not know about the debts of their husband or father. Of course, I know of cases where, when taking out a debt, banks or other financial organizations are required to notify the wife of the person who is borrowing a large amount of money. I think this is correct, because if the wife does not agree for her husband to borrow such a huge amount, then she can simply divorce him, because she is not ready for this.

Logically speaking from a lender's standpoint, the gamblers next of kin should bear the debt.

As they say, "The father's sin passes to their son".

Indeed the lender needs to recover their money and for that often it happens that the actual debtor ends up in bad situation and ends their life - eventually the lender would come back to the gamblers family seeking for their money.

I saw some users comment about exploitation here - it is true, but lenders should avoid such things for their own sanity and be professional.

In my opinion, someone who has a debt and dies so that he does not have time to pay off his debt, it is likely that the family will become the next responsibility where the family of the main perpetrator must be burdened with the debt that he has not had time to pay off. And to forgive the loans that have been made I don't think it will happen, because everyone is sensitive to the name of money, let alone with other people with blood relatives alone if the problem is money it can be a tenuous relationship. Also if he has his debts in a large company such as a bank which is legitimately a large company I don't think it will just forgive him, still related parties such as family must pay off the debt as you said there is no way out other than paying off the debt, but indeed this will be an additional burden in my opinion.

For gambling addicts, borrowing money is not a strange thing in my opinion, because it will happen if you are addicted to gambling. But it is different if people who are not addicted to gambling borrow money from the beginning with the knowledge of all their families and when the main perpetrator dies, the family should continue that they have to pay the debt in full because of the mutual agreement that was determined from the beginning. But if people who are addicted to gambling in my opinion they will not tell that they make loans for gambling, so when they die or decide to commit suicide like many cases that have occurred because of the stress of excessive pressure, then the family I think will be surprised when they know the main perpetrator leaves a debt that may be large, but right as you say there is no way out other than paying and paying it off, even though this is an additional burden but it must be accepted because I think there is no forgiveness that can be forgotten so I especially related to money. Besides, someone who gambles will not explain the reason for borrowing, if they say the reason for borrowing is to gamble then of course the borrower also I don't think will give it, so with them getting borrowed money I think it is based on lies.

The answer depends on the existing law in the country where the debtor is located, here in our country.


So here in our country, the deceased properties should be sold or they will have to pay the debt first before the inheritors, inherit the deceased properties.
The head of the family should take care of everything in case he passes away and his children are still small and he cannot do this if he is in debt and he is taking loans to sustain his addiction to gambling.
Children expect inheritance from their parents so they can sustain the generations to come that's our tradition here in our country and this will not happen if the head of the family is a chronic gambler, so for head the family if they want to give inheritance to your children, moderate your gambling habit.

You can talked or discuss with the lender privately and asked them not to brought the case to the law court. If the family promise to repay the loan as soon as possible to the lender, the lender can accepted that and will just wait for the family repay the money. There should be agreement between the family and the lender when the family repay all of the loans to the lender. But if the lender brought that case to the law court, we don't know what will happens because the family should repay the loan no matter what is the reasons.

It's vary from each country to other, so make sure to check the laws and regulations in your country, or a better way contact a lawyer or professional since they know more than Average Joe.


Above are the legal reasons that someone will bear someone else debts that already died.

But they can use illegal way like force and harass you because you're one of his family, you might get canceled by other people e.g. neighbors, friends etc because they're scared with the debt collectors too.

There's no such thing as inheriting debt in the country where I live, when the loan taker dies, the debt or loan will automatically be paid off. This is also part of the law in our country, so lenders cannot sue loan takers. This law is very useful, especially for someone who leaves behind debts to their family.

If the case is not statute barred, any debt can be claimed from the family members even after the debtor has passed away. In the law there is a duration within which a case about debt is valid, and within which a debt can be claimed. So @OP it is very possible to inherit a gambling debt from your parents, because under the law it is considered that your father or mother who is debt entered the debt considering to make profit that will still be of benefit of you.

On a foolish person will leave debt for his children. Permit me to back it up with a quote from the good book that says, "A good person leaves an inheritance for their children's children...Proverbs 13:22"

Well the goodnews is that this is not a problem. The law will take its due course and knows how to handle this type of situation. A debt is a debt be it gambling debt or business debt. Read what the law says here- https://www.debt.org/advice/inheriting/

In the end, the person who leaves debt for his children has indirectly left them no inheritance.

Yes indeed, this is indeed a very concerning situation, I think it has become a fact and perhaps a habit for a gambler especially those who have entered the stage of addiction where they make loans as an alternative to financing their gambling activities, basically borrowed money is indeed to be borrowed but in general and overall the money is borrowed only when you experience an urgent situation such as needing money for anything that cannot be tolerated or need funds as soon as possible. but unfortunately the gamblers who are addicted take advantage of this situation which in the end as the OP said that in the end it is their children or their family members who have to pay for something that is actually not their responsibility when the gambler dies, But unfortunately gamblers who are already addicted take advantage of this situation which in the end as the OP said that in the end it is their children or their family members who have to pay for something that is actually not their responsibility when the gambler is dead.

But on the other hand I don't think it will be that easy to make a loan, especially if you borrow from a public service agency, because there are guarantees that must be met, usually the lender will check your financial situation along with the weekly or monthly income you get from work, if the amount is quite good in the sense that there is money left over that is not used for other needs then usually they will just give you a loan, but if there is absolutely nothing that can guarantee the trust of the service then they will not just give the loan, and maybe the answer is that gamblers borrow more from the closest people such as friends or relatives.

Such behaviour can be observed in various communities but not all are exposed. There are some gamblers who gamble silently and at some point they try to gamble with loan money. When their debts become heavy, they are pressured by the lenders to give them various conditions to repay the money, but the lenders do not always believe the gamblers' promises. At some point they come to their parents and stress about the loan. As the amount of debt is high then they have no other option but to sell the fixed assets. And if they fail to pay that money, then they give various unpleasant proposals for that loan. Gambling on loan is one of the biggest vices of gamblers.

No its not working as that since the person who get the loan is their parent and not their child so they are out on that problem and consider the loan to be gone since the person who borrowed the money is unfortunately passed away. The lender cannot say that they can take their asset not unless if there's signed contract about that but if there's nothing signed then the lender can't take anything from the borrowers children and if they do bad action like threaten or harass then its better to report it to police so that they can leave a statement to the lender that they are out of that problem since they are not the person who have obligation to him.

This is bad on the side of lender but he can't force the childrens to pay the loan which is taken by their parent.

Well when a gambler dies, their estate pays their debts.. The people they owe money to go after whatever the person left behind like houses, money, gadgets, you name it. Luckily a regular family members usually don't get stuck paying off those debts, unless they were mixed up in it too, like sharing bank accounts. The legal deal involves sorting out what the person owned, paying off debts from that stash and divvying up whatever's left. If there's not enough, tough luck for the creditors. The rules can change depending on where you are, so it's a good idea to get some legal advice if you find yourself inheriting more than just your parent's old record collection after they've rolled the dice one too many times

In some countries, the laws are very strict about the loans and one has to abide by the loan regulations when it comes to the paying off the loan. I think there are two types of loans to be considered here.

1) Those loans which we give to our family and friends. In these types of loans, we usually do not care to write it down on legal papers and these loans are given on good will. So sometimes people do not pay back these loans resulting in conflicts on the families etc,

2) The loans taken from the Loan giving agencies. Here everything is documented and if we fail to return the loan on time, there could be legal penalties. The chances of not paying the loan in this case is very slim.

I would say that even if we give a loan to any of our near and dear ones, better get it legally documented so that in case of any mishap like the death of the person to whom the loan was given, the next course of action is clearly mentioned and can be claimed in the court of law.

By law, debt is not inheritable because the one that is in a contract, either verbally or written, is the only person that is liable to pay the loan. If he passes, the loan will be paid automatically. That's why in lending practice, the loan is insured so if the borrower dies, the insurance company will take care of the loan. Maybe some lenders could go after the property of the borrower if it was being used as collateral for the loan, but without that agreement, the lender cannot take the property of the borrower.

First the question is, is it possible for a lender to borrow some one money for gambling? from my perspective it's very difficult if not impossible. so any debt that could be inherited may likely not be borrowed for the purpose of gambling but was either used for gambling that is the truth.

As Oshosondy said there is always the presence of collateral or something for payment so it's quite not possible for the children to inherit the debt rather it will cost them some inheritance to settle those debt. all this are based my location and experience but it could be other wise in other places.

so now it's very much clear that in your location it could be possible, sometime ago I watch a video of how children where to pay the debt of there father who was a gambler, but he gambled for some politicians and with that he lost and was to pay but he died along the way. so the children had to pay for his gambling addiction this could also relate to your perspective of this case.

Yes, you might inherit it if a loan is active and the borrower is deceased.
Worse, the borrower used the house or other properties to be as collateral for the loan. Now, I have seen other types of loans like getting the cash if you are a credit card holder, there's no collateral here but only name and trust. This will be a big problem for the next of kin because they might be the ones who will inherit the loan. Or, those who accepted to use their names as co-maker for the loan. That means he guaranteed that if ever the borrower will not pay the loan, he will be the one who will shoulder it or he will try to talk it out with the borrower so that it can be paid.

Sure, gambling addicts are seen as bad especially those who get loans from banks. So if you are a relative of the gambling addict, might as well check his accounts and make sure he is not doing something silly that will get you all in trouble in the future. I think banks will accept some warnings about loans of the borrower if you can prove that you are part of the family of the bank holder. I mean, you are not taking any, you are just restricting it from happening and you can use his gambling addiction to be the reason for doing it.