Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in North Carolina

You say that your mother co-signed. When you co-sign for someone else, you promise the lender that if the other person that you co-signed for does not pay then you will pay. If your mother co-signed (rather than was a co-borrower) then your brother is liable for the payment. If something happens to your mother, your brother is still liable if the car is not paid off by then. It is only where your brother totally fails to pay that your mother would become liable. If a default has occurred and the mother is paying, then the loan would become a claim against the mother's estate if she passed away.

However, I don't know if your mother made a will or what assets she has or what other claims there are. I also don't know the exact status of the co-signing - has a default occurred and judgment been entered or not?

Assuming that the debt was an obligation of your mother's estate, to the extent that the mother's estate has paid the bill, then the estate could seek reimbursement of any monies expended on the car loan from your brother. The problem is that if your brother needed a co-signer, then one of the following was true: (a) your brother had no credit history and needed a co-signer; (b) your brother had lousy credit and needed a co-signer; or (3) your brother was trying to buy too expensive of a car and needed a co-signer. If it was (b) then the estate may not be successful in getting anything from your brother, although it may be able to recoup some of the money from his share of the estate.

Co-signing is always a bad deal for the co-signer and should never be done.