Q: Our 33 year old son died 11/10/2019. With the info provided below what is required of us or who do we need to contact?
He has been separated from his wife for over a year. No seperation papers were ever filed. She is in a court mandated drug rehab facility and has been there over a year. He has been living with us because of his financial problems. He had a car which was co-signed by his mother. Other than the car he had nothing else of value and the last I checked had just over $7.00 in his bank account. He owed thousands in medical expenses most already turned over to collection agencies. Are we or his estate liable for his old Bill's if he has nothing except the vehicle which his mother became the principal owner of upon his death? And do we need to or required to have the court appoint an executor of his estate. I'm in my early 70's and his mother mid 60's and 100% disabled. We don't have any extra money each month and can't afford a lawyer.
A: Only his estate is liable for his bills, not you, except for any bills that you personally guaranteed in writing but you would remember doing that. You don’t HAVE to probate his estate. Failure to probate might leave some things in his name unclaimed and after many years they will be turned over to the state as unclaimed property, but that’s not so bad because the alternative would be a lot of work for you only to have his estate used to pay creditors. If his estate is too small to even pay the executor fees you might collect as serving as executor it would be a reasonable decision for you to do nothing.
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