2 Deaths a Fire and Short Sale OH MY!

[Bernard Chouinard]

Hey BP community, I’d love some feed back on a house I’m potentially working on given the situation. The owner, Peter, passed away in 2011 and his niece Maria became the executor of the estate. In 2017 there was a house fire they were pretty much robbed by the contractor who low balled the estimate to get the job then took off with the money. In August of 2018, Maria passed away.

1. When the executor of Maria’s estate (sister Vivian) becomes the actual executor does she has the right to sell this house that’s still in Peters name? If not, what does she have to do?
2. The mortgage balance ($219K), cost of repairs (roughly $85K), is too much for the ARV ($250K). Is it possible for Maria to take the insurance money and short sale the house or is she required to use the money towards repairs only?