My dad died with significat debt. My stepmom left the country and walked out on every penny of it. The collectors called us a few times, we told them, you want money...we want our dad. Guess we both lost. I think they eventually gave up. Interestingly, my stepmom, after years of lying, procrastinating, bullshitting, etc, finally signed over my dad's property to us, per his wishes before death. I wonder if the credit card companies have any claim against it? It's probably worth 5-10k (40 acres of severely fire damaged land with no power, no well, no phones, and no dwelling).