Q: My father passed away a few weeks ago and my mother is in A assisted living with dementia. We found no will
How do I go about selling their manufactured home and collect on his life insurance policy to pay off his bills.
A:
This could be a tricky situation.
Life Insurance - it just depends on who the beneficiary of the policy is. If you are the beneficiary, then submission of a death certificate and a little paperwork for the company will be enough. If mom is the beneficiary it is similar, but obviously her condition complicates matters.
House - we need to see who is on the title to that house and find out if there is a beneficiary deed in place. Those answers, along with an understanding of what that house is worth and how much money is still owed will allow us to answer that question.
Mom - the question here is two part (i) does anyone have a power of attorney for mom right now, and if not (ii) does mom have the capacity right now to sign a power of attorney and actually know what she is doing?
Absent good answers to those questions, you might find yourself in the messy world of conservatorships - asking a court to appoint you or someone else to manage mom's affairs. I really hope a power of attorney exists.
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