Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California
My father married three months before he passed. Stepmother is executor of the will which divids the estate four ways. Are we as siblings responsable for the bills and credit debts of my father, incurred prior to his death? Stepmother has not taken the will to probate as yet and is claiming I owe her half of the PGE The phone and payments on the credit accounts. I understand that I am responsible for the payments on up coming property tax, house Insurance and am told ( by step mother that there is a line of credit pymt due on the house. What bills am I legally responsible for, as stepmother is wanting payment for the phone, cable PGE , funeral . Am I responsible for the debts that my stepdads death has left behind, as I am a residant in a different town and not living in the house that she now is living in?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Your father's death so soon after he married this woman and executed a will with her named as executrix is suspicious to me, but maybe I sit up too late watching the ID channel.
This stepmother may be name as an executrix in the will (an executrix is a female executor) , but she is not really the executrix unless she submits the will for probate and has the court issue her letters testamentary. It is her job at that point to gather estate assets and pay the final bills.
The estate is responsible for the bills and debts of the decedent. If the estate does not pay and the heirs take property, technically the creditors can go after the heirs.
It sounds like she is not willing to do her duty. I suggest you speak to an attorney near you who handles probate matters. It may be possible to get someone else appointed executor, or determine whether the probate is necessary.
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