You still owe the estate. The court will decide who gets the money but the debt is property of the estate.

Welcome to fluther!

That depends on the details of your I.O.U. and the appicable law of wherever you live.

In general, in most countries, for as far as I know you would now owe the estate.
The deceased’s contract with you was part of his assets and as such moves into the estate.

In that respect, there is not so much difference between having savings at a bank, and having an I.O.U. from a person. In both cases some party owes you money and that debt to you is your asset.

The exectuor (not executioner). It doesn’t matter if the deceased had no will, he or she still has an estate and heirs, and you still owe the money.

@marinelife :)

Yes, you still have to pay back the money.

That is supposed to be executor, not exectuor.

Yes, and legal obligations aside, it is the right thing to do.
Other family members will benefit from honoring your debt to the deceased and if you have any integrity you will make sure you honor your agreement.

i am not exactly in the best ‘state of mind’, due to the passing of my friend, so, to everyone who feels the need to correct my mistake, regarding, ‘executioner/exectuor’, i apologize…...i am not asking, trying to get out of a loan payment, i am asking, trying to figure out the correct person i need to communicate with in this matter…maybe i should have made the details more clear, but i didn’t realize i had an obligation to you, regarding my personal matter…..and as far as ‘integrity’- thank you for your personal assessment of my situation, and reading more into my question, then there was…it was I who insisted on having the loan notarized, and i would have never come onto this site, requesting counsel, if i didn’t have integrity, to begin with…like i said, i just gave a very generalized description of my question, not wanting to go into all my personal details of the situation, not realizing i needed to, assuming people would know what i meant- that’s what i get for assuming! for all people out there wanting to know my business-maybe i should have clarified the statement, though…. i am extremely upset, but recognize the fact, that my friend is no longer in pain, and is in Heaven, where, TRUE LIFE begins, and that is what’s important….so when you judge me for using the incorrect word, or not having integrity, maybe you should ask yourself, “would Jesus say this?” ..i don’t think so…remember He used to hang out with prostitutes and lepers, not caring their station in life, just wanting to help…...the Lord knows how upset i am right now, what information i am trying to figure out, and why, and He is the only one i have to answer to, but i do thank the people who have answered me-non-judgmentally- for your help, typo’s and all…...God Bless you….

@tabithat Nobody was judging you, just pointing out the rather humorous mistake of terminology and my response was not an accusation, just a fact,that integrity does go beyond the grave in a case such as this.
I apologize for any mistaken innuendo which was not my intention. I am sorry for your loss and hope you find peace and healing soon.

@tabithat
Sorry to hear you lost a friend.

Talk to one of the relatives and ask them who is executing the will.

If you honestly look and cant find anybody that can tell you, then just wait for the estate to reach out to you. In the rare case that there are no beneficiaries, then I guess you may get to keep the money. I dont know if there is a term after which the estate cannot claim anymore.

… and please don’t get angry at us for misunderstanding your question. Your question clearly focussed on whether, not who you needed to repay. I’m sure there was no malintent.

I don’t know exactly “who” you would pay it back to. If there was a will or trust, with a trustee or executor chosen, and if the debt was in the form of a legal note, contract, or such, then I suppose you would have to pay it back, but personal loans between individuals rarely have all of this documentation. I would take @whitenoise ‘s advice. Lay low, and let them come after you.

I don’t agree with it being the “right thing to do”, to pay the loan to the deceased person’s relatives, because I was not raised that way. I don’t see my parents’ money and property as being rightfully mine, but as theirs, and if they lend some to a friend, I wouldn’t begrudge that friend the money.

@Skaggfacemutt I think it depends on the situation, but it certainly should be addressed with surviving family members. They may or not may actually need the money. I agree about not having a sense of entitlement, but, if the sum involved is a few hundred dollars vs. thousands, well…that would probably make all the difference.
If it were me as a surviving relative I wouldn’t care if the amount owed was paid if it was fairly modest, but if we’re talking thousands of dollars that would certainly benefit the beneficiaries of the estate and go towards being fairly dispersed amongst the survivors.

Yes, a lot depends on the circumstances. Some relatives circle like vultures to get whatever they can get, even though they may not have even been that close to the deceased. I am sure if you “offered” to pay the relatives, they aren’t going to say no thanks. If my parents lent a friend some money, I wouldn’t even know about it. Also, my parents taught us not to lend money that we couldn’t afford to kiss goodbye if it didn’t get paid back. If it were my parents, I wouldn’t know and wouldn’t care if there were any outstanding loans.

However, @tabithat has a notarized IOU, which tells me that the person expected and needed to be paid back. Still, you don’t want to pay the wrong person, and the relatives might be the type that are already squabbling over who gets what. In that case, if you contact any certain relative, that person might say “me, me” when it may not be them – they might want to pocket the dough and not tell other family members that they even got it.

This is a very difficult situation. That is why I think I would lay low and wait for the family to contact me. I would be careful who I give the money back to.