My mother died 6-9-9 without a will. Do we have to sell the house to pay credit card debt? or can a lien or loan against the house be made?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
My mother died 6-9-9 without a will. Do we have to sell the house to pay credit card debt? or can a lien or loan against the house be made?
Is there any way to negotiate the credit card debt or do we owe the total? We were told that we needed to sell the house to pay the debt, but if we are able to sell the house, why couldn’t we take a loan out against the house? We wanted to keep the house.
Asked on June 23, 2009 under Estate Planning, Illinois
Answers:
B. B., Member, New Jersey Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 14 years ago | Contributor
The personal representative of the estate (administrator) can try to negotiate the debt, but it will have to be paid by the estate, one way or another. It will probably be difficult, if not impossible, to get a loan against the house while it's still in the estate, because there isn't any income to make the payments.
I think the estate administrator needs to sit down with an attorney in your area, to review all of the details of the situation, for advice you can rely on. Depending on the facts, there may be a way to keep the house, and it's worth following up on.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.