Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Indiana
mother passed away and all her possesions go to me
I just lost my Mother in January-I am very confused on what bills of hers that I am now responsible for. The Life insurance policies will only cover her funeral expenses. I can take money out of my 401K to pay for the funeral. So if I do that, do I have to use the insurance money to pay her existing debts, or is that my money? I will have bills for her home-taxes,utilities,insurance.I can't afford to pay this without some money from her life insurance or her savings accounts, and CD--name removed--
Her home will take us months to get cleaned out and repaired, so that we can sell it. We live 2 hours away from my hometown, both my husband and I work full time,since we took time off for her illness and funeral we don't have much time left to take off of work.So this too adds to the money we need coming in to keep up on our own bills.We also have 3 school age children who are very involved during the week and on weekends, so It is almost impossible to get down to start on mom--name removed--house.And it--name removed--been a very emotional strain on our family during our time of greif.
Please any advice you could give us would be very much appreciated. Thank You!
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: mother passed away and all her possesions go to me
I am sorry to hear about the loss of your mother. A dead person's debts, assuming they are not jointly owed with a live person, can only be paid from the decedent's estate. The creditors have to file claims within three months, AFTER the notice of administration is published and mailed to them. You should speak to a lawyer with experience in probate law, so you can get these time deadline rolling. The fewer claims filed, the more money available for distribution. There are too many issues raised in your query to answer, because all the issues are very fact-sensitive. If you become the authorized personal representative of your mother's estate, you shouldn't need to spend any of your own money. I certainly wouldn't advise you break money out of your 401K to pay funeral expenses. Tell the funeral director you will open an estate soon and will have the money then. Many lawyers, including me, offer telephone consultations. Good luck.
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