must i reopen estate

[janm1959]

maryland state. my mother died over a year ago leaving some creditor debt. total value of estate was just enough to cover furneral costs. through the small estate probate process, we closed the estate with not enough to cover all debts. Now an auto insurance policy has turned up that will add $10,000 to this estate. do we need to go through probate again or can we recontact creditors and settle debts on our own?

 

[advisor10]

1-2-2002

How much are the outstanding debts?

It would be perfectly okay for you to settle the debts on your own without reopening the estate, but if you wanted an official record to establish that the debts had been paid, you may want to go ahead with the formality of reopening the estate to take care of the debt.

The debt or a portion of it may have already been written off by the creditors, so you can negotiate by saying the estate can only afford to pay half or 2/3ds of the outstanding amount, and the creditors will be delighted to get whatever you can send instead of receiving nothing, as they would have before you contacted them.