Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in North Carolina

Whoa ... why does step-sister have to pay a dime for anything of your father's?

Let's back up and take this slowly. Obviously your father was remarried and it sounds like your father and step-mother each had children from prior marriages or relationships. If that is the case, did either parent adopt the other spouse's child? If not, then the step-sister cannot inherit from your father and you cannot inherit from step-mother unless either parent or step-parent made a will.

So the first question is did your father have any will? When did he die? How soon after did step-mother pass? Assuming father did not have a will, then his assets would pass to his wife and any biological or adopted children of your father. Besides yourself how many siblings do you have? If none, then 50% of your father's net probate assets would pass to the stepmother. Since the stepmother is now dead, her share of your father's net probate assets would pass to her estate and get distributed to her children, heirs or beneficiaries.

Not all assets are probate assets. Examples are jointly owned real property, joint bank accounts, IRAs, pensions or life insurance. If your father owned land together with your stepmother as husband and wife (see who is listed as the grantee of the property) then when your father died, his share automatically passed to your stepmother as of the minute of death. In such case, the land would pass as part of the stepmother's estate and it would be up to her children or her personal representative to handle, not you.

If the land was owned solely by your father, that is a different matter. It would pass to his estate if there is no will. With land, beneficiaries inherit subject to any mortgages, which means that it would be the responsibility of you and any other beneficiaries of your father's estate to pay. If step-sister does not want to pay, then buy out the step-mother's share of the equity in the property and make arrangements to sell or refi. If there is a will and the land was owned solely by your father, then it would pass to the person named in the will and this would be the beneficiary's responsibility to pay the mortgage. However, you do not indicate what other assets are in the estate, what other claims there are, what the land is worth or how much its mortgaged for. If the land is not worth what it is mortgaged for, maybe foreclosure would be a good idea. iuf the land is worth much more than what is owed, then you should not let the property be foreclosed on.

Finally, real estate is not an estate. The estate for your father is not going into foreclosure. Its not possible. The estate for your father consists of everything he owned, real, personal or otherwise that is not a non-probate asset. Real estate, i.e., land is different. That may or may not be a probate asset as I have outlined and that will be foreclosed upon if the mortgage is not paid.

I suggest that you begin by getting a deed to the real property (if the land is in NC most of the registers of deeds' offices are online and you can look up the deed). So get it and find out who owned the land. If the land goes to the stepmother, then let it go into foreclosure and buy it at foreclosure sale if you want it. Or else buy it from the personal representative of stepmother's estate. If the land was owned solely by your father or as a tenancy in common, then you need to take charge and pay the mortgage to keep the property out of foreclosure or contact the lender at least until this can be sorted out.

I also suggest that you take the deed, any wills and any other documents (like foreclosure documents) to a probate attorne who practices in the county where the land is located and pay the attorney for a consult to see what has to be done if anything.