Q: My father passed and the mortgage was under his name . My mom is on the deed and has not told the mortgage company

A: Very sorry for your loss and the passing of your father, please accept my condolences. Your mother will not have to refinance the property, there are substantial protections in place as it relates to homestead rights and spousal rights and protections under the Garn St. Germain Depository Act as well as the 2018 Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Rule. You mom will basically be able to just step in and take over the payments, then again, she could just keep making payments for now as well. If a probate is necessary, that can be done as well and may be necessary if the property was only in your dad's name (but you mentioned your mom is on the deed already). It may be worth your while to pull up the deed and see what it precisely says for starters and then you can and likely should speak with a probate attorney. It is possible that your mom is on the deed already (as stated by you above) and all she would have to do is submit death certificate and affidavit of continuous marriage and she can move forward from there as it relates to the property. I would encourage you to get started with a probate attorney though, because if other assets need to go through probate or there are any debts and the house needs to protected through a determination of homestead filing as part of probate, those are all things that would need to be addressed and should be addressed. You can look up the act above for a starting point, but it basically says that your mom can take over the mortgage without any need to refinance if the property is being paid on time, is homestead and she is living in the property or intends to live in it. Whether any probate will be necessary at all can also be determined if there are any assets in your Dad's name alone that your mom does not have access to or that did not transfer upon death through Pay on Death or Transfer on Death designations.

A: Sorry to hear of the passing of your father. Generally, as long as your mother continues to live in the house and make the payments there should not be a problem. The only issue would be if this was a reverse mortgage and your mother is under 62 years of age. You should be able to discuss the question of the mortgage with an attorney that should be consulted to discuss whether a probate proceeding is necessary due to your father's passing, quite frequently there is not when the first spouse passes. Also discuss any estate planning options that may be appropriate for your mother at this point.