Comic Strips

Negative. That's how long it takes a bankruptcy to fall off your record. Unresolved debt and debt collectors will hound you until it's taken care of, and screw up your credit for the duration.

Depends on the state you live in.

First there is the debt collectors ability to sue to collect. This varies by state and the type of debt in the U.S.

https://www.forbes.com/advisor/debt-relief/debt-relief-statute-of-limitations-debt-collection-by-state/

The delinquency is on your credit report for 7 years. After that you can request it be removed.

Federally subsidized student loans have no end date. These can not be discharged. This is the top reason that school tuition rates have skyrocketed. The lenders can loan people with no income vast sums of money little to no risk.

I had a roommate in college who married a citizen of another country. He applied and got approval for a work visa in their spouses native country. Before they left they paid off their federal student loans with credit cards. Something like $20-25K. They also had private student loans of around $10K. They then moved out of the country and went delinquent on the debt. They ended up moving back to the U.S. around 15 years later. By that time their credit report was empty.

Not really, there are time limits where they can't sue you anymore, and credit agencies will stop reporting the original debt holder, but you're on the hook for life, usually even if you pay it off if it passes more than one collector.

In Germany there's a process that works that way ("Privatinsolvenz", personal bankruptcy).

It depends on the laws in each country. As long as creditors send reminders of the debt the debt will never disappear in my country. Unless you go personal bankruptcy. And that is both good/bad for you in the future.

Most don't, no (US). It just goes to your estate, so if you have anything of value that will be sold to help with it before it goes to any of your loved ones.

Disclaimer: I don’t know if this actually happens. Wouldn’t surprise me though.

It depends on the circumstance.

When you die, all your assets become part of your estate, which is usually then distributed either to your spouse, next of kin, or whatever individuals/nonprofits you name in your will.

If your house is part of that estate, and has a mortgage, then if your family wants to claim the house from the estate, they then have to take responsibility for, and pay the mortgage until they can sell the house, for instance.

If you owed a debt before you died, then died, and your estate had money in it, the lender would get to request that the estate pay off the debts owed before the family could lay claim to the remainder.

But in no way do any debts ever simply transfer from a deceased person to the next of kin without explicit consent, often within very specific situations, like taking claim of a house with a mortgage.

Depends on country.

In some it only goes to them if they accept inheritance.

Nah, I checked. Just in case.