It’s totally normal to feel a bit overwhelmed when you might inherit a huge pile of student loan debt after a loved one passes away. Fortunately, most student loans will be forgiven.

Federal student loans are loans provided by the government. They include Direct Subsidized Loans, Direct Unsubsidized Loans, and Direct PLUS Loans (for graduate and professional students).

When a borrower dies, their federal student loans are automatically forgiven. This includes Parent PLUS loans, even if there was an endorser or co-signer on the loan.

To get federal loan forgiveness, the Estate’s legal representative needs to provide a copy of the death certificate to the loan servicer or the U.S. Department of Education.

Just a heads up, there might be a tax bill if the borrower died before January 1, 2018. Before 2018, the IRS treated canceled student debt as income, which could mean the Estate had to pay taxes. But thanks to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, there’s a temporary window from January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2025, where canceled student loan debt doesn’t count as income.

If the borrower died outside this window, the Estate might still have to pay taxes, but it’s likely much less than the loan amount. In that case, the federal government will send a 1099-C to the Estate, and they’ll need to include it with the borrower’s final tax return.

Whether a private student loan gets forgiven when the borrower dies depends on the program and lender.

Many private student loan programs do offer death discharges that are pretty much the same as federal student loans. If the main borrower dies, the private student loan is canceled, and the co-signer doesn’t have to pay it back.

But for those private student loan programs that don’t forgive the loan, the lender will probably charge the debt against the borrower’s Estate. This could also affect the co-signer, since some lenders might tell the co-signer to pay the remaining debt if the Estate can’t pay it off.

By the way, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act says that all new student loans taken out after November 20, 2018 are automatically eligible for co-signer release if the student borrower dies. For loans before November 20, 2018, co-signers should ask about the lender’s release process, if there is one.

You’ll need to chat with each private lender to understand their process. You’ll usually start by filling out a form and including a copy of the death certificate.

If a borrower passes away, their spouse might have to pay off the remaining private student debt. This depends on where the borrower lived before marriage and when they took out the loans.

If the borrower lived in a community property state (Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin), a surviving spouse might still have to pay off a private student loan after their spouse dies, even if they didn’t co-sign the loans. But, here’s the thing: they only have to pay if the loan was taken out after getting married.

If the borrower got married before taking out the loan, and the couple did not live in a community property state, then the spouse isn’t responsible for the loans. But, there’s a catch: if the widowed spouse co-signed the loan, they’ll follow the co-signer release process.