First, smustudentx is not sure if he was an authorized user. The alternative would be that he was an account holder. If the credit card company has been pursuing him for the debt, that's a significant possibility.

Second, there may be an avenue to recover against an authorized user who is taking advantage of the account holder's intent to default. If dad's leaving the country and skipping out on his bill, and junior maxes out the card knowing that, the credit card company might (for example) attempt to pursue junior for fraud.

It's an overstatement to say, "If it's not in your name, a creditor can't go after it." If a debtor transfers assets out of his name in order to impoverish himself, the creditor can attack the transfers as "fraudulent transfers" and seek to collect the value of the transferred asset against both the debtor and the recipient of the transfer.