Debts of Decedent Law and Legal Definition
Debt, as applied to estates of decedents, means the debts due by the deceased or expected to be due in his lifetime. Costs of estate administration do not come within the above definition. They are charges arising after the death of the decedent. The same is true of funeral expenses. [Nolte v. Nolte, 247 Iowa 868 (Iowa 1956)]. Under some jurisdictions the word debts as used in a will includes costs of administration. [In re Estate of Dickey, 87 Ohio App. 255 (Ohio Ct. App., Montgomery County 1949)].
