after death legal issue

[shuvelhead]

A good friend recently passed leaving his spouse with pretty close to nothing except bills, HIS bills. That's the issue. Mind you this was a very close and loving couple who were married for decades, but through all their years of marriage they each had their own paychecks, own bills and joint bills. The widow has a very low paying job, is going to have to sell her home at a big loss, and move in with relatives with pretty much just a little furniture and clothes and hers and his/hers joint bills. Is she responsible to pay off HIS bills too (her name is not on them)? She's not the type to just try to get out of something, but she really has nothing except bad health and a good family (but they're not in a position to help financially either). With this in mind, does anyone have any other suggestions?

 

[Tilted]

She should definitely speak to someone who handles these kinds of things for a living. That being said, no, she would generally not be responsible for his bills. His estate would, but if he doesn't have anything that would go through probate (i.e. become part of his estate), then that wouldn't matter.

Do you know how the house is titled? Is it in both of their names, and if so are they 'tenants by the entirety' (most likely) or 'tenants in common'? If they are 'tenants by the entirety', then his share of ownership passes to her automatically upon death. It does not go through probate, and thus, the house would not be subject to bills owed by his estate. If her name is not on the title, or if they are 'tenants in common', then the house may go through probate, and thus its sale may be forced to pay his debts.

Edit: And, if by 'sell her home at a big loss', you mean that more money is owed on the house than she will get from a sale, then it doesn't really matter how the house is titled anyway. After paying the mortgage there would be no money left over for her (or in the alternative the creditors) to get anyway. If there is nothing of value in the estate, then the creditors don't get paid. The only difference may be that an estate won't even need to be opened, if the property is titled as 'tenants by the entirety'.

 

[Tilted]

If you all don't have a copy of the deed so that you can confirm how the property is titled, it should be relatively easy to find it on line using the property's address. If you need to do that, let me know and I'll tell you how to go about it.

 

[Junebug1]

If you all don't have a copy of the deed so that you can confirm how the property is titled, it should be relatively easy to find it on line using the property's address. If you need to do that, let me know and I'll tell you how to go about it.

Seems like you have a lot of knowledge on this subject! I need to know how to look up some deeds, MD and DC can you tell me?? Also, How much time do you have to contest a will? And what kind of attorney should you seek to get answers on contesting a will?? Any info will be great!!

 

[RoseRed]

Some interesting comments.

 

[Tilted]

Also, How much time do you have to contest a will?

I don't know the answer to that question. In Maryland, there is a general time limit of 3 years for initiating civil actions. However, there are many different rules for specific kinds of actions. You'll have to ask an attorney to be sure. You can also search the Maryland Annotated Code.

And what kind of attorney should you seek to get answers on contesting a will?? Any info will be great!!

I'm sure there are attorneys that specialize in contesting wills, but any lawyer that uses the following labels should be able to help you: Estate Planning, Probate, Wills and Trusts. They should be able to answer basic questions for you and at least point you toward someone that handles will contests, if they don't handle them themselves. If you want to search specifically for someone that does will contests, those actions are sometimes referred to as caveat proceedings.

I need to know how to look up some deeds, MD and DC can you tell me??

I've never looked up records in DC, so I don't have any information that would be helpful in that regard. I'd start by finding the D.C. government website and looking for links relating to tax assessments.

As far as Maryland goes, the first thing you need to do is find the 'deed reference'. That will be a two part number (book and page) that tells you where the recorded copy of the most recent deed is located.

Start here. That is a Maryland government site where you can search for a Real Property Data Sheet. You can search by street address, tax map parcel number, or previous sales information.

When you pull up the data sheet, you will see a bunch of assorted information about the property. In the upper right of the sheet you should see the Deed Reference. You can ignore the letters that proceed it, you just need the two numbers.

Next, you will need to go here. That site will let you pull up an image of documents that have been legally recorded (e.g. deeds, mortgages, subdivision plats). In order to use the site you must have an account, but it is free. It's been a long time since I got my account, but you may have to sign up and wait for someone in the Clerk's Office to send you a username and password (by email).

Once you have an account set up, you can use the deed reference to pull up the deed. Sometimes a deed will have other deed references within it that lead to earlier deeds or mortgage information. Depending on what you are trying to find, you may need to research back some.

If you run into any snags, let me know and I'll see if I can help.

Hope this helps.

 

[awpitt]

A good friend recently passed leaving his spouse with pretty close to nothing except bills, HIS bills. That's the issue. Mind you this was a very close and loving couple who were married for decades, but through all their years of marriage they each had their own paychecks, own bills and joint bills. The widow has a very low paying job, is going to have to sell her home at a big loss, and move in with relatives with pretty much just a little furniture and clothes and hers and his/hers joint bills. Is she responsible to pay off HIS bills too (her name is not on them)? She's not the type to just try to get out of something, but she really has nothing except bad health and a good family (but they're not in a position to help financially either). With this in mind, does anyone have any other suggestions?

Since they were married, there is no such thing as "HIS" bills. Yes, his estate would be responsible but that ends up falling on the next of kin, the widow, who is really the one responsible, unless a Will designates otherwise.