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In the US, debts of the deceased are paid out of the estate. If there isn’t enough money in the estate, the debts just go unpaid—descendants or other survivors are not responsible.
In your scenario, assuming he owned the residence, it would be sold and the debts repaid from the proceeds; likewise with any other assets he left behind.
Exactly. When my wife passed away the only thing we owned were personal items and one vehicle.
The collectors were sending demand letters for an estate of which there was none. Eventually I quit opening the letters and carried a marker with me to the mailbox. When something was sent to the estate of the address was blacked out, they had "return to sender - no estate" put on the front, and they were put in the outbox. After a few months they stopped coming.
If someone was coming to the door (didn't happen in my case) I would simply have a page written up to hand them that states the person they are looking for is deceased and if they didn't own anything that there was no estate. It would go on to say that they personally, along with any person's they work with or for, as well as any subsequent agents are trespassed. If they contact you for the matter again law enforcement will be contacted. It would be handed to them and a picture of them would be taken after which the door would be closed.
The only way a family member can be held liable for a debt is if they have cosigned the debt.
This varies by state. In community property states the spouse could be liable for the debt if it was acquired during the marriage, even if they're not a cosigner.
I find myself thinking about this more and more as I get closer to retirement. I’m hoping that I get enough sufficient notice of my own death that I have time to close my checking/savings accounts, help liquidate any property I have that my kids don’t want, and convert as much as possible to cash. I intend to tell my family that any debt collectors that come knocking are to be told, in no uncertain terms, to fuck all the way off.
You should really talk to an estate lawyer first.