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House questions

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evilcactus

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Florida

Hello, I have 2 questions:

My mother died in april of 04. Her estate is not going through probate yet. I am still living in the house, and I have been making the mortgage payments on my own. I am not listed as the joint owner to the house, and there was no will. After probate, will the house have to be refinanced?

My Mom owed some debts, can creditors seize my house if it goes into probate? Or will it be protected by homestead laws?
 


BlondiePB

Senior Member
evilcactus said:
What is the name of your state? Florida

Hello, I have 2 questions:

My mother died in april of 04. Her estate is not going through probate yet. I am still living in the house, and I have been making the mortgage payments on my own. I am not listed as the joint owner to the house, and there was no will. After probate, will the house have to be refinanced?

My Mom owed some debts, can creditors seize my house if it goes into probate? Or will it be protected by homestead laws?
This is not your house, yet. You need to get your mother's estate probated ASAP -- BEFORE the creditors open probate on the estate. See an attorney pronto.
 
S

seniorjudge

Guest
Q: Hello, I have 2 questions:

A: I counted three. I threw in one myself to make it an even four.


Q: After probate, will the house have to be refinanced?

A: Probably, unless the lender says otherwise.


Q: My Mom owed some debts, can creditors seize my house if it goes into probate?

A: Yes.


Q: My Mom owed some debts, can creditors seize my house if it DOES NOT go into probate?

A: Yes.


Q: Or will it be protected by homestead laws?

A: You need to ask the probate attorney you hire this question. My GUESS is that since the person who had the homestead rights (ma) is gone, then the answer would be no. But I do not know for sure.
 

Heir7

Member
If 2 years have passed and the creditors have not opened probate yet, I'd say that they probably never will open probate.

I'm starting to think that for the most part, creditors don't open probate. They can open probate, but in general they tend to not open probate. They tend to try to scare the relatives into voluntarily paying them by calling them on the telephone, but they're all bark and no bite.

It costs too much money for them to open probate and the longer it goes, the less assets they could possibly get from it. It's a lost cause for them.
 

mba761

Junior Member
I think you need to open probate yourself and have the house retitled in your name. If you are the only surviving child and there was no spouse, no will, the state of Florida defaults the assets to the children. Are you sure the creditors have not placed a lien? Check that out..

Open probate, get a homestead order, get the house retitled. You'll have to hire an attorney and go through probate.

Can the creditors seize the house through probate? Someone below said Yes, but based on my experience that's not always the case. You'll have to file creditor notifications. If it's been 4 years, you may not have any claims. Check with an attorney. I think your actually smart in that you waited to file probate!
 

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