Bill paying once testor dies

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NY

My mother-in-law, who is not expected to live long, owns a home on a reverse mortgage. My wife and one of her sisters have been named as executor of the will. My mother-in-law has little in savings. Once the funeral expenses are paid (some of which will most likely be borne by her children, who have little money themselves) there will be nothing left to cover bills of the house and probate costs until the house is sold. There is some equity in the house, but nothing that is available until sold. There may not even be much in equity, as the house needs a lot of work by the future owner.How are the bills associated with her estate to be paid in this situation? Is it best for my wife as the executor, to just "walk away" from the house?

Thank you.

if you are going to probate the estate, you can't just walk away from something such as a house.

In fact, since there is a reverse mortgage, you really need to deal with the house. That reverse mortgage is likely to be a considerable debt to your mothers estate and as such, cannot simply be ignored. As well, as a reverse mortgage, the lender will have a mortgage attached to the home.

I am not quite sure how one would simply "walk away" from a house such as this without causing a lot of other problems with the probate of the estate.

justalayman said:

if you are going to probate the estate, you can't just walk away from something such as a house.

In fact, since there is a reverse mortgage, you really need to deal with the house. That reverse mortgage is likely to be a considerable debt to your mothers estate and as such, cannot simply be ignored. As well, as a reverse mortgage, the lender will have a mortgage attached to the home.

I am not quite sure how one would simply "walk away" from a house such as this without causing a lot of other problems with the probate of the estate.

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I should have presented this thread with more information.

The house in question has a reverse mortgage with maybe $50000-75000 in equity if lucky, due to its condition and the real estate market in general. There would be 8 heirs to her estate. Once other bills are paid (probate fee/lawyer/real estate commission, etc.) there will be much less for the heirs. If there is $50000 divided by 8 heirs, that is $6250/heir. To be quite honest, for that amount of money, it is not worth the grief and aggrevation my wife as executor will have to go through to deal with this. Her siblings do not get along and I can foresee my wife will be made the scapegoat for not having tens of thousand of dollars available to the heirs.

I guess what I mean by "walk away" is since there will be no other tangible assests (stocks,bonds, bank accounts, etc.) and the equity left in the house is questionable due to the condition of the house and the present real estate market, should my wife just not accept the role of executor and and let one of the other sisters do it, letting the chips fall where they may?

This medium is very difficult to formulate certain ideas, so any responses ARE appreciated.

if she does not want to be executrix, she simply refuses the appointment. It is totally up to her. that is not a legal question but simply one of what one choses to do.

On the other hand, your wife would be entitled to a commission for the work involved. By statute in New York:

(a) For receiving and paying out all sums of money not exceeding
$100,000 at the rate of 5 percent.
(b) For receiving and paying out any additional sums not exceeding
$200,000 at the rate of 4 percent.
(c) For receiving and paying out any additional sums not exceeding
$700,000 at the rate of 3 percent.
(d) For receiving and paying out any additional sums not exceeding
$4,000,000 at the rate of 2 1/2 percent.
(e) For receiving and paying out all sums above $5,000,000 at the rate
of 2 percent.

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Then again, if it's a gaggle of squbblings, the commission could become just another cause for griping and sniping that is not worth enduring.