New Braunfels, TX Estate Planning Law Firms & Lawyers

If your mother does not know about the debt, then she could not have consented to the debt; therefore, your mother has no personal obligation for the debt upon your father's death. However, upon your father's death, his estate, consisting of his separate property (and his community property, if he resides in a community proper state), is liable for any of your father's just debts. Therefore, upon your father's death, the creditor may sue his estate for payment of the debt. Thus, although your mother may anticipate inheriting all of your father's estate, that estate will be liable to pay the debt, and if the creditor is successful in making its claim against the estate, your mother will, in effect, pay for the debt due to inheriting your father's estate subject to this debt. With that said, if your mother is the direct beneficiary of the life insurance proceeds, the creditor may not reach the $18,000 death benefit from the insurance policy, as long as those proceeds are not payable to your father's estate. If your mother is deceased, then the same principles apply to the children as inheritors of the estate. In no event will your mother or the children be obligated for the debt in excess of the value of your father's estate, excluding the insurance proceeds. So, for example, let's say your father's debt is $50,000, and that he has separate property valued at $20,000 and there is $18,000 in death benefit payable to your mother under the insurance policy. The creditor may go after only the $20,000 of separate assets of your father, and if the creditor is successful in collecting the $20,000 in satisfaction of the debt, that is all the creditor will be able to receive. The creditor cannot sue your mother or the children for the $30,000 remaining on the debt, neither can the creditor touch the insurance proceeds.

His estate is bound to pay the debts. If the assets in his estate are insufficient to pay his debts, then they may go unpaid. Debts which are "expenses of the family" may be charged to the spouse in some cases.

A very tough question, which can't really be answered on a website. The will does not "speak" until your aunt passes away. First question is, is your aunt still competent? If yes, it is her call which house gets sold. If no, and you are acting under power of attorney, it gets complicated; you need to respect her estate plan, but that will not be easy to do. In that case, you need a lawyer to work through this so you do not end up with liability to a nephew who loses out.