Creditor of Decedent Law and Legal Definition
Creditor of decedent is a person to whom the decedent was obliged personally. Creditor of decedent is also a person who, by operation of law, becomes the legal owner of a claim against the decedent, say, the administrator of a creditor.
The following are examples of case law referring to creditor of decedent:
One who is the owner of a claim for funeral expenses is not a creditor of the decedent, so as to authorize him to proceed against the real estate of the decedent for the collection of his claim. [In re Estate of Corwin, 10 Misc. 196 (N.Y. Sur. Ct. 1894)].
Any sum recovered from a wrongful death action shall go to the persons entitled to share in the proportion they would take of the personal estate of the deceased in case of intestacy without liability to creditors, has reference to creditors of decedent. [Dunham v. Dunham, 1970 Pa. Dist. & Cnty. Dec. LEXIS 346 (Pa. C.P. 1970)].
