The scenario is like this: boyfriend has unpaid debt (either from loansharks or the bank themselves) however he died from a terminal illness before debt collectors can get to him, but does his death automatically “erase” the unpaid debt he owes as he’s gone?
The thing is, they can’t pursue him as he’s literally dead. The contract he signed prior to death only bares his name (meaning the debt can’t be passed down to either his girlfriend or family) as he’s the only signatory listed on paper (while his family are not signatories).
Debt collectors or loansharks show up to his residence only finding out from his girlfriend that he passed away (she has his death certificate to prove it), she reiterates that his debt can’t be paid the “conventional” way as he’s no longer alive to do that.
It should be noted that common law marriage is EXTREMELY rare. If you call them your boyfriend/girlfriend instead of your spouse, you’re (at least in states I’ve looked into) not ever going to be common law married. If you never hold some kind of ceremony, you aren’t common law married. It’s actually way more complicated than just living together.
Edit: filing taxes as if you’re married is also often not enough to make you common law married either, but obviously ianal and you need one if you want to know if you are common law married or not.
What you are saying may be true where you live, but you shouldn’t confidently (and incorrectly) speculate on laws elsewhere. Where I live, a couple living together are considered married after 2 / 1 years (provincial / federal definitions). No need for a ceremony, no need to call each other “wife” or “husband”. It just happens. https://beyond.ubc.ca/what-bc-couples-need-to-know-about-common-law-spouse-entitlements/
Fair enough! It’s rare in the US, and obviously that is not everywhere!
Although that makes me want to never ever ever cohabitate in Canada/BC because wow that’s fast (in legal terms, I mean).
yeah it is rare, but it terms of money it does get argued for things like alimony.