Jointly Held Assets

[Jyoung18]

A relative just died without a will in NY. As I understand the jointly held assets of the deceased will pass directly to the surviving co-owner. The remaining assets will be included in the estate and distributed accoprding to the formula in the law.

If the deceased had debts solely in her name (such as credit card debts, taxes) would these assets be considered part of the estate and available to creditors to satisfy their claims or would the survivor receive these assets free of potential claim?

Thanks for your help.

 

[advisor10]

2-1-2002

DEAR JYOUNG18:

Why are you asking this question: are you a creditor or a survivor/beneficiary?

A lot will depend on how much the estate is worth. If there is a surviving spouse, that person is supposed to get at least $50,000 and then 1/2 of the balance of what is left would go to any children, if there are any.

You would also need to clarify what type of assets there are and how they are "jointly held". If a beneficiary was designated, then ownership would pass directly to the beneficiary without going through probate and that money would not be able to be used for paying any debts (unless the beneficiary voluntarily wanted to use it for such purpose). However, if there were other assets that were not jointly held, then possibly there could be enough there to be added to the estate and pay some or all of the bills. If there is not enough in the estate to pay the bills, then the estate is essentially bankrupt and the bills will have to go unpaid.

SINCERELY,

advisor