Estate- what to do with deceased dad's house?
Shakopee, MN · Member since 2014 · 17 posts · 1 vote
Walk away! Insurance money is safe. Mail keys to 1st lender.
Walk away! Insurance money is safe. Mail keys to 1st lender.
I agree with Bob. Take the insurance money and forget about the mobile. Not your debt, not your problem.
I'm going to agree with the others. I'm not one to normally say to just not pay debts, but in this case they're not your debts so don't make them into your problem. Take whatever money you have coming and allow the mobile to go back to whomever lent on it.
This is not your debt. If they cannot put a lien on your inheritance, I would just walk away.
Hello again all you amazing big pocket posters-
On February 10th and 12, 2014- My dad and his wife both passed away, leaving me the executor of their estate.
We have done an estate sale, and sold all their stuff and took what we wanted. The mobilehome is in Oregon. Their upside down on it. Here are the numbers:
1st mortgage owe $66,000
2nd Mortgage owe $33,550
CMA by realtors say the mobilehome is worth between $82,000-$95,000. Plus 6% to realtor for listing it.
2nd mortgage has a lien on the home. They havent staked a claim on it yet, as I have been keeping the payments up and it isnt behind at all.
Brother and I got a whopping $25,000 Insurance check, that I have in a bank acct for the estate and pay bills out of it.
House would only rent for $700-$800 a month and we are paying $1002 for mortgage plus utilities.
Now I am torn what to do, short sale? I got a letter from someone that found my name from obituary or probate list from court? I am going to see what they say, assuming not what I need.
Anyone deal with estate before. Bill collectors and second mortgage has until End of June to stake claim on the $25,000 insurance check, were hoping their will be some left in the end. God knows we spent enough of our own money going there to settle things. Hoping to break even at least.
I wish this could be my first flip/investment. But not sure how or what to do.
I forgot to mention the master bedroom spells of dog pee, as their dog was locked in room when my stepmom passed away. So it needs painted and carpet removed, but were upside down on it already. The numbers suck, so any wise ideas or advice. Brother wants to possibly rent it himself, as he has business going on in the area for a yr, but I think we should sell it come june 1st and try to get closer to date that bill collectors cant claim money anymore.
HELP please....Oh wise bigger pocket peeps...
The problem is that dad had an attorney who had us get court involved and he says WE CANT just walk away, and have certain steps to take....
Now the issue is HOW to sell it. Sorry for posting samr thing once, I added app to my phone and used app to add first post and nothing came to my phone and didnt realize you all replied, so I reposted again today..I am lost on what to do and hate that court is involved. They say what I can and cant do, yet we didnt probate. I have never had to deal with an estate before.
We did get personal items out, and had an estate sale. But when they made me executor, the courts got involved. Keeping dads lawyer might have been my mistake, he has helped some, but might have made this harder then it needed to be to unload this mobile home.
Is short sale the best way to sell it then? Realtor says since their is a lien on the home, that I need 2nd mortgage to sign papers to let us pay them less then what owed to them. They tried to get me to take over loan, HAHA no thanks...
Brother is stepmoms son, who I met the day I arrived with news of deaths. He isnt much of a help, letting me handle it all. I let him have all my dads guns, and I took dads grizzley 4 wheeler, and his truck and car and a big trailer. Worth probably $23000 total. He can have the guns, I hate guns in my home anyway. I took other items as well. Which I may sell them all and invest the money, pay off my SUV etc. The trailer would be perfect for remodel jobs, if I decide to flip and buy materials myself as I did when I use to help flip homes and worked as mgr on projects.
I've dealt with an estate when my grandma passed away two years ago. The debt is now the responsibility of the estate. If the estate has assets, and it sounds like it does, then the estate needs to make good on debt, to the extent there are assets to cover it. IDK if the lenders can come after the money that was given to you. But if the estate has assets, those assets have to be used to cover the estates debts and final bills. And all those four wheelers, trucks and guns would be assets. I paid rent on my grandma's apartment even after she died, since we hadn't given the full 30 days notice. And numerous medical bills. And even contracted doctors to make sure there were no additional bills outstanding. And yes, I did consult with an attorney who advised the bills needed to be paid.
So, list it for sale. Get the best price you can. Then bring cash to closing to make up the difference. If there truly isn't enough cash in the estate and from the sale of assets then the lenders will be stuck with the shortage. They don't have anyone to come after. But if there were assets and the heirs misappropriated them, then they may well come after you.
Not a lawyer, not legal advice. Sounds like you have a lawyer. You should follow his advice.
The lawyer gave us the needed paperwork to have the cars etc put in our names. Said we didnt have to count them as assets. That we would sell the house and cover what we could. I use the insurance money and pay monthly utilities on the house, and make both payments to 1st and 2nd mortgage.
They put public notice in paper and bill collectors have til End of June to stake claim for debt owed to them. After that we settle up and split what is left. Attorney had to report to court what their were for assets, and he only named the house and the $25,000 policy. Nothing else. So were good there.
I just want to be done, at the time this happened I was in middle of buying a new house, I had my old apartment bills to settle up on, then new house bills, then my dads bills. My mail is full of nothing but bills everyday, IT SUCKS...i thought I hated paying one set of bills, try 3 sets. Sick of spending so much time paying bills.
My issue is, best way to list it? Short sale it, but those take a while right? I am an ex realtor, but short sales werent popular back then and never dealt with one. I figure if we wait to list until closer to our deadline of end of June, maybe their is hope to keep some of ins check? Attorney says they can only take a percentage of ins check, not all that is owed to them. In meantime I am paying an attorney ALOT for all this. Least brother is paying half.
Jenny - sorry to hear of all your problems. Since this is really a discussion forum designed and intended for real estate investors, I don't think this is truly the best place to get the type of advice that is appropriate. In other words, don't go to the hardware store to buy a banana.
Dealing with the passing of loved ones is difficult but you'll get through this. I suggest that you delegate as much as you can to the attorney and their staff and get out of the way. If you must, go to Oregon and just deal with it. Ask for local real estate professional referrals in that town.
And, Google is you friend.
Jenny,
Sorry for your loss.
Ditto what others have said about walking away. I'm sure Dad's lawyer is looking out for*his* best interest (him getting paid). I've seen this scenario over and over again in my family and others after a passing, the family takes the items left behind, the bank gets to take over/back the house or condo that is underwater.
Who was the beneficiary of the life policy? If it's a named person(s), other than the estate, it belongs to that person(s) and not to the estate (as far as I know). If it belongs to a person, the estate has no business with it in the estates accounts paying bills for the estate....or especially paying Dad's lawyer. PLEASE CHECK INTO THAT, there are bad lawyers out there.
Ok, so your the executrix, you can quit that gig and walk away from that too. If there is no estate besides bills, anyone else would, too.
Walk..err..RUN away from the attorney.
It's difficult for me to hear about heirs that end up involving attorneys and courts when it might not have been necessary. The lenders on the mobile home are secured creditors. The estate has the right to choose to let the lender foreclose. Even if the estate was well funded, the exec. still gets to make the call about how to manage debt and the risks of not paying it. Most likely, the lenders are entitled to the collateral and nothing else. You do not have to continue to make payments to a creditor secured by collateral. I suggest you get a second opinion on this if the estate attorney is telling you otherwise.
Only the attorney, the courts and the real estate agent will come out ahead on the sale of the mobile home. If it were me, I'd let the attorney know that you will not be managing the sale of the MH. The attorney is still owed fees, however. I'd settle that up with him now and move on.
My commentary isn't legal advice. IMO, you will be best served by getting another legal opinion on the closing of the estate. My experience with lawyers that "come with estate", as in this case, is that they are not always the best people to serve heirs. The relationship may have worked well when the decedent was living and paying the attorney bills, but it can move into murky territory when the heirs take over. You're essentially using and paying someone who you didn't vet for your purposes.
I would not bother with another legal opinion.http://wills.about.com/od/howtoavoidprobate/a/insurancebills.htm
If you are paying the attorney out of the insurance proceeds based on his telling you they are part of the estate then I would tell him to give me ALL the money back before I file a complaint with the Bar Association. How much work will he do if he is being paid with ONLY estate assets?
What other assets does the estate have? Did the estate sale raise any money after expenses? Are there statutory amounts for you to be paid? How were the final expenses paid?
Time for everybody to see if a living trust is in order.
You guys are so amazing, thi sis my new favorite site. On here daily since I found it. Sorry if I shouldnt post this here, but I had hoped to somehow make use of this property. But new it probably wasnt an option because of debt owed.
Lawyer got courts involved, yet it isn't a probate? They have list of what is left in assets, home and $25,000 ins check, and I have to show them accounts and do an inventory at 6 mos and one year.
I WISH we wouldve taken time to research, but it happen so fast. I got call my dad wa sin hospital on sunday, then monday night brother calls to say his mom ( dads wife) died in her sleep. Then two days later my dad died, I was trying to get a plane out but storms prevented any travel and I didnt get there in time. We got there to a mess, and the attorney was a life safer then. He has been a lot of help. BUT with courts involved, not sure we can just walk away without penalties of some kind.
Bob were not allowed to pay attorney, or me or brother back out of estate money.We pay attorney monthly, brother and I split monthly fee. Fee is based on work I have him do or asking questions in emails etc.
I can only pay house bills with it, until we go to court after house is sold and finish the estate. I hate that I know nothing about this stuff, always thought I knew a lot, this makes me feel helpless. I just want to be done...Wrap it up, if nothing left of Insurance in end so be it.
Bob were not allowed to pay attorney, or me or brother back out of estate money
Says who? The attorney? Is there estate money? If so, yes you may want to pay an attorney out of your money to protect your interest, but it sounds like you are saying THERE IS NO ESTATE MONEY.
You avoided the question about the insurance money being part of the estate. If you and the brother are named beneficiaries then it is NOT. His fees should be paid out of the estate. If the estate is not solvent then he gets no fees. See how long he hangs around then. The estate should be paying all necessary housing costs not you. Why do you continue to involve yourself in this obvious "churn" for agent and lawyer fees?
We did an estate sale and didnt make much, we kept that. Brother and I are both named in will as benefictories. My dad died last, his mom first, so therefore I became the executor of the estate.
My concern is the courts are involved. I am doing what they said to do.