Wife of deceased is not on title , but wants equity loan

[Nye Eddings]

Hi BP!

I hope all is going well for everyone.  

I came across a situation and thought I'd use my favorite source for direction:

The owner of the house passed away over 15 years ago and name was on title/mortgage.  The surviving spouse simply paid off mortgage overtime (deceased spouse name remained on mortgage) The mortgage is now paid off but the surviving  spouse wants to pull a line of credit from the house to do repairs.  What will be the issues for the spouse, who never officially put name on deed/title, to get a equity line of credit from house?

Thanks in advance!