Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Minnesota
Who pays the debts?
I am trying to situate a relatives financial state. Spouse dies leaving NO will. There is a life insurance policy, cash basis account and 401K. All had spouse as beneficiary.
First question: Deceased had 2 credit cards (very small balances) that the spouse had no knowledge of. Does he have to pay these?
Second question: He's been told by the bank they do business with that no-one can touch the life insurance, is this true?
Third: Does he have to do anything to remove her name from the real-estate or car. These are really the only things they own.
Finally - is there any other concerns that we should be looking at? They had minimal debt - house, one car, 3 credit cards (maybe total of $7k), doctor bills are minimal - insurance covered most. Spouse is paying all co-pays.
Thank you
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Who pays the debts?
You need to consult a lawyer to go over this item by item. However, it looks to me as if it may be possible to not have to pay her credit cards.
As far as I know, the banker is right about the life insurance - it's exempt.
The trick is to see if you can avoid probate. If there is some other way to deal with her assets besides probate, then there is no easy place for creditors to file a claim.
The house can be dealt with outside of probate assuming it was jointly owned. You need a lawyer to do an affidavit of survivorship - that will transfer the house.
The car can probably also be transferred by an affidavit to collect assets. You need a lawyer to do that for you too - but it should be fairly cheap and quick.
So then the question becomes - are there any other assets that can't be taken care of outside probate. If the answer is "no," you should be more or less home free.
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