Daily AncestorDesperate debts
Desperate debts were debts owed to an estate that the executor judged could never be collected; collectible ones were called sperate or good debts.
Desperate here means hopeless. An 1891 law dictionary defines a desperate debt as an irrecoverable obligation and says executors used the term in inventories and schedules of assets. Its opposite, sperate, comes from the Latin for hoped for, and marks a debt that might still be paid.
Some inventories add a middle group of doubtful debts. A long list of desperate debts can point to debtors who had died, gone bankrupt or moved away, which makes it a lead worth following.
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Daily Ancestor. "Desperate debts." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/money-measures/desperate-debts. Last checked 2026-10-03.