Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

Your mother's estate is responsible to pay her debts, but if the house was titled "MOM and DAUGHTER, as joint tenants" it passes directly to you as the surviving joint tenant and is not part of the estate. If there are no other assets, the creditors cannot collect from you personally. You need to have an attorney look at the deed, and if titled as above, file an Affidavit of Death of Joint Tenant, along with a Change of Ownership Report and a Claim for Exclusion for Reassessment for Transfer from Parent to Child (these are filed in the Recorder's Office and Assessor's office of the county where the property is located.) Once it is in your name, unsecured creditors cannot collect from the sale of the property. Of course, it is a different story if there is a lien.

Mr. Cusack is right. If the property was not held as joint tenants, however, the creditors can seek recovery from her half of the property, if the statute of limitations has not run. Your question on the pension would depend on what kind of pension plan it was, and how it was set up.