Mickleton, NJ Estate Planning Law Firms & Lawyers

The answers to this question depend on the mortgage, and the terms of the will.  The will may stipulate that the heirs take the property subject to the mortgage.  If that's the case, the heirs can take over the mortgage payments, but technically, the heirs should have the mortgage redone in their name.  Changing the title to the property could cause an acceleration of the mortgage and require immediate payment.  A bigger question becomes, what happened to the proceeds of the second mortgage?  Did the decedent take that in a lump payment and it went to other heirs?   Can the first and second mortgages be combined and refinanced?  Rates are good now and it might be worth your while to qualify and re-do the whole thing.  

All of those items should be included in a memorandum that can be included with the Will document. That would allow you to add or delete from the memo without changing the Will. You should not list personal items like that in the Will.

If you put your husband's name on the deed you can do it as joint tenants with right of survivoship.  That way the townshouse will pass to himautomoatically upon your deaht, and will pass to you automatically upon his death.  Without changing the deed, the property will not pass automatically to him on your death even though you are husband and wife.