Have no idea what to do?

[cindymae]

I am from Texas. My mother in law passed away last week. She is was very behind on her mortgage. She left no will. My husband is her only living child and pretty much only family beside me and our children. We have been living with her helping take care of her for the past several years. We have no idea what to do now though. I called the mortgage company to see if the house is going into foreclosure or what is going to happen and they said they needed a copy of the death certificate and another form which I could not understand that lady as to what that form is due to her thick accent before they could tell us anything. I am guessing the other form is showing he is the Representative for her but we have no idea how to go about getting that.

So where do we go from here? Any and all advise is appreciated as we are just totally lost!

 

[Eekamouse]

If you and her son were living with her for the past several years, why didn't you help her with her mortgage while she was alive?

 

[justalayman]

to get the letter naming you or your husband representative, you would have to apply to the probate court and opening a case and apply to be representative.



you have a choice of a full probate or a small estate administration. If you can use the small estate administration, it is simpler but it is not available to all. Here is a publication from Texas concerning small estate administration:

http://www.co.travis.tx.us/probate/pdfs/small_estate_affidavit_checklist.pdf

 

[nextwife]

What is it you are trying to do?

Can you and he cover the mortgage payments and taxes if it can be brought out of default status? Are there other heirs? A will?

 

[Ohiogal]

I am from Texas. My mother in law passed away last week. She is was very behind on her mortgage. She left no will. My husband is her only living child and pretty much only family beside me and our children. We have been living with her helping take care of her for the past several years. We have no idea what to do now though. I called the mortgage company to see if the house is going into foreclosure or what is going to happen and they said they needed a copy of the death certificate and another form which I could not understand that lady as to what that form is due to her thick accent before they could tell us anything. I am guessing the other form is showing he is the Representative for her but we have no idea how to go about getting that.

So where do we go from here? Any and all advise is appreciated as we are just totally lost!

If you were living with her years why weren't you helping pay the mortgage and keep it current? The home may go into foreclosure. The house and rest of estate must go through probate so your husband should open a probate case.

 

[cindymae]

As for why my husband and I have not been helping her with the payments . . . she was very strong headed and we had our bills and she had hers. As far as we knew, she was keeping it up. We had no idea that it was so far behind until 2 days after she passed when we got a bill in the mail. She would not let us see "her" bills and mail, that was her own business.

No other heirs and no will. Financially, there is no way that we could cover the cost and get it up to date either especially since she had no life insurance and we just had to pay for her funeral cost which took all our savings and then some!

 

[LdiJ]

As for why my husband and I have not been helping her with the payments . . . she was very strong headed and we had our bills and she had hers. As far as we knew, she was keeping it up. We had no idea that it was so far behind until 2 days after she passed when we got a bill in the mail. She would not let us see "her" bills and mail, that was her own business.

No other heirs and no will. Financially, there is no way that we could cover the cost and get it up to date either especially since she had no life insurance and we just had to pay for her funeral cost which took all our savings and then some!

If there is no will, and there is no equity, you and your husband could simply walk away from the home. It is not your husband's responsibility.

If there is equity, then again, the previous advice you received to open probate and have your husband named as the administrator is the correct advice. Then he can sell the home, pay off the mortgage and get whatever equity is left.

 

[cindymae]

If there is no will, and there is no equity, you and your husband could simply walk away from the home. It is not your husband's responsibility.

If there is equity, then again, the previous advice you received to open probate and have your husband named as the administrator is the correct advice. Then he can sell the home, pay off the mortgage and get whatever equity is left.

There are so many problems with the home and so much work that needs to be done on it that it probably would not sale for what is owed on it.

Thanks for the advise everyone, I really appreciate it!

 

[nextwife]

There are so many problems with the home and so much work that needs to be done on it that it probably would not sale for what is owed on it.

Thanks for the advise everyone, I really appreciate it!

Does the estate have OTHER assets that need to be transferred through probate? Because whomever files probate can't, for example, just collect the banks acounts and cars and walk on other debts if claims get filed..

 

[cindymae]

If there is no will, and there is no equity, you and your husband could simply walk away from the home. It is not your husband's responsibility.

If there is equity, then again, the previous advice you received to open probate and have your husband named as the administrator is the correct advice. Then he can sell the home, pay off the mortgage and get whatever equity is left.

There is no equity, no assets, nothing else of any value whatsoever, not even a bank account.

So if my husband decides to just walk away, how long can we get away with staying in the home to save up money and prepare to move without getting into any trouble?

 

[LdiJ]

There is no equity, no assets, nothing else of any value whatsoever, not even a bank account.

So if my husband decides to just walk away, how long can we get away with staying in the home to save up money and prepare to move without getting into any trouble?

You can stay until the bank forecloses and evicts you.

 

[nextwife]

You can stay until the bank forecloses and evicts you.

Actually, you are better off getting out voluntarilly by the end of foreclosure, BEFORE eviction. If evicted, the sherif's deputy arrives with a mover and hauls everything they do not declare "junk" out in the truck, and then you must pay storage, etc. to get it back. Whatever is declared junk, gets left behind and the house is secured and rekeyed immediately- whatever remains inside gets trashed out. I see a number of people make this mistake. It gets very expensive to be evicted. It also makes it harder to get approved for a rental.

 

[Mass_Shyster]

Actually, you are better off getting out voluntarilly by the end of foreclosure, BEFORE eviction. If evicted, the sherif's deputy arrives with a mover and hauls everything they do not declare "junk" out in the truck, and then you must pay storage, etc. to get it back. Whatever is declared junk, gets left behind and the house is secured and rekeyed immediately- whatever remains inside gets trashed out. I see a number of people make this mistake. It gets very expensive to be evicted. It also makes it harder to get approved for a rental.

Generally, there is plenty of notice between the foreclosure sale and the time the sheriff shows up with a truck. I wouldn't move until at earliest the first notice to vacate AFTER the foreclosure sale.

 

[cindymae]

I was told by someone that we could actually get into trouble for occupying the residence "illegally" since she passed and the house was in her name only. But we lived her with her for years before her passing and half the bills are in our names. Is this not true?

 

[LdiJ]

I was told by someone that we could actually get into trouble for occupying the residence "illegally" since she passed and the house was in her name only. But we lived her with her for years before her passing and half the bills are in our names. Is this not true?

No, you cannot get into trouble like that. You are legally residents of the home.