When Student Loans Live On After Death

Mary Pilon:

In July 2006, 25-year-old Christopher Bryski died.
His private student loans didn’t. Mr. Bryski’s family in Marlton, N.J., continues to make monthly payments on his loans–the result of a potentially costly loophole in the rules governing student lending.
As the college season nears, throngs of parents and students still are applying for private student loans, long used by students as an alternative to federal loans. But they may be unaware that in cases where the student dies, the co-signers often are obliged to pay off the balance of the loan themselves–a requirement typically not found in federal loans.