What to do.

[murpht]

Indiana here.
- My 72 year old mother died in November 2004.
- I am her only natural son and lived in the same house with her for 10 years taking care of her.
- She left me all her personal belongings in a will.
- She has two step sons who she leaves 1/3 each if house is to be sold.
- She owned a small house worth $48,000 which has a home equity loan of $19,000 against it and she has a VISA account with a balance of $6,000.
- She had a $5,000 insurance policy, which was the only insurance that she had. There was no insurance on any of the loans.
- Her will states that I can live in the house if I want to, but if not then I must sell it and divide it 3 ways between myself and my two step-brothers.
- I choose to live in the house and continue to pay the $25K debt. This is what I'm doing now.
- I have not started the probate process because I'm afraid the bank and credit card company will sue Mom's estate for their money and I will lose the house.
- I am living on a Social Security Disability income. I had polio and have other physical problems and am in poor condition both physically and financially. I can pay these bills and get along alright, but if I had to move it would have to be in a cheap apartment somewhere and quite frankly, I'm better off here.

My questions are, what problems am I looking at by not going through probate with the house? Can I hold off on the probate until the house is paid for? Is there a time limit?

 

[seniorjudge]

Indiana here.
- My 72 year old mother died in November 2004.
- I am her only natural son and lived in the same house with her for 10 years taking care of her.
- She left me all her personal belongings in a will.
- She has two step sons who she leaves 1/3 each if house is to be sold.
- She owned a small house worth $48,000 which has a home equity loan of $19,000 against it and she has a VISA account with a balance of $6,000.
- She had a $5,000 insurance policy, which was the only insurance that she had. There was no insurance on any of the loans.
- Her will states that I can live in the house if I want to, but if not then I must sell it and divide it 3 ways between myself and my two step-brothers.
- I choose to live in the house and continue to pay the $25K debt. This is what I'm doing now.
- I have not started the probate process because I'm afraid the bank and credit card company will sue Mom's estate for their money and I will lose the house.
- I am living on a Social Security Disability income. I had polio and have other physical problems and am in poor condition both physically and financially. I can pay these bills and get along alright, but if I had to move it would have to be in a cheap apartment somewhere and quite frankly, I'm better off here.

My questions are, what problems am I looking at by not going through probate with the house? Can I hold off on the probate until the house is paid for? Is there a time limit?

Q: My questions are, what problems am I looking at by not going through probate with the house?

A: You will never own the house if you do not probate the estate.


Q: Can I hold off on the probate until the house is paid for?

A: If the stepsons or the creditors want to force a probate, then they can do so.


Q: Is there a time limit?

A: After a certain time (and I don't know what it is in your state) the will will be invalid and when it goes to probate, the stuff will go by intestate succession.

If you do not probate the estate, you may be facing a foreclosure one of these days and wind up with absolutely nothing.

http://www.finance.cch.com/pops/c50s10d190_IN.asp