Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Illinois
No Estate
My father passed away 6 months ago. He had minimum assets with a lot of liabilities. He had 2 homes (market value=amount owed), and the car as well which he owed more than what was worth. He also had about 10000 debt in credit cards. My family (ex wife (our mom), my brother, sister and myself) have decided not to open the estate since there was no assets to go after it. He had no life insurance and didnt have will. Since my siblings have moved out of the house where they lived with him, and transfered all the mail to my house, all the mail even on his name has been coming here. Therefore all the agencies now have my address and there are many letters daily under his name and also under ''estate of...'' coming to my house. The latest ones are lawsuits against his estate. I am little worried since they have my address, can they do anything to me or my siblings. Are we responsible for any of it? What should I do, ignore them or respond to them? Our names were never associated with our dads debt in any shape or form.
Thank you so much for your time and help.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: No Estate
It seems that there are a lot of issues here, but unless you or your other family members signed documents that obligated you to pay something on behalf of your father, you are not liable to pay any of his creditors.
Now for the houses - were they in his name only? Are you willing to let them go into foreclosure?
You should know that if an estate is opened, executor's fees and attorneys' fees have priority over creditors. It is quite possible that one of the creditors will force an estate to be opened, so be ready.
Let me know if I can assist.
Good luck to you and your family.
Re: No Estate
You would have to open the estate in order to sell everything, and you will not be liable for his debts. You will need a probate attorney, and since they are paid out of the estate first (or almost first), it should not be too hard to handle. I recommend spending the time required to close the estate properly, since creditors can get creative and accuse family members of taking assets and so on and leaving the estate with nothing but debts. Feel free to contact my office if you would like to speak to me about the specifics of your father's estate administration and taking care of it.
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