Unsuspecting Cousin ends up with house. Now what?

[Ryan Pemberton]

I came across a nice house with tall grass in a nice neighborhood.  The house is in good condition but there was a utility disconnect tag on the front door.  After doing some research, it turns out the homeowner (a single, elderly gentleman) passed away last October.  He has no wife, no living parents, no children, and no siblings.  A little more digging, I found out that his cousin has been "willed" the house.  

I've managed to contact the cousin and have a meeting with her and her husband to discuss selling me the property next week (when her husband returns from a fishing trip). It's ARV is around $120,000. It looks like it has around $50k in mortgages and probably needs less than $1,000 in repairs from her assessment. She had no idea she was going to be "stuck" with it, as she so eloquently worded it.

Obviously, they don't want to mess with it and the house is in a good neighborhood that moves homes for sale very quickly.  I think this is a great opportunity with high motivation from the sellers.

Here's my question(s):

1.  If the mortgages are in the original owners name and he has passed, can the cousin sell it for payoff?  (remember, I haven't spoken with them about the details yet.)

2.  Is there some sort of "controlling interest" that is given to a next of kin when there is a death in this circumstance?

3.  Can I possibly assume the note through the cousin?  Or would I need to go straight to the bank(s)?

Anyone that has experience in this field and can shed some light, I'd love to hear from you.

As always, Thanks, BP!

-Ryan