Mother in law passed away without a will (and with no assets.)

[Santana19]

What is the name of your state? Missouri
Hi all, my mother in law passed away last week in Missouri. She didn't have a will to anyone's knowledge, nor did she have any tangible assets (she lived in low income senior housing that she was receiving assistance in paying for, no car, bank account almost empty, etc.)

My wife, her only child and living relative, and her were not super close though they did speak on a somewhat regular basis. However my wife did go out there to assist her friends in cleaning out the apartment and tying up any loose ends. Our question is, what responsibilities are there, and who needs to be notified? As mentioned there are no real assets, most of the furniture and the like in her apartment were either borrowed or not worth much at all.

 

[HighwayMan]

So what are you worried about?

 

[t74]

Verify the funeral home notified Social Security,

Search for Missouri specific information on small estates. These generally do not require an attorney and complicated court filings. Required forms are generally available online with complete instructions for completing them.

There are other websites with lists of things to do when a person dies.

Be careful not to dispose of property that might need to be sold to pay bills

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state? Missouri
Hi all, my mother in law passed away last week in Missouri. She didn't have a will to anyone's knowledge, nor did she have any tangible assets (she lived in low income senior housing that she was receiving assistance in paying for, no car, bank account almost empty, etc.)

My wife, her only child and living relative, and her were not super close though they did speak on a somewhat regular basis. However my wife did go out there to assist her friends in cleaning out the apartment and tying up any loose ends. Our question is, what responsibilities are there, and who needs to be notified? As mentioned there are no real assets, most of the furniture and the like in her apartment were either borrowed or not worth much at all.

Your wife does not need to take on the responsibility of the estate if she does not want to do so. There is no obligation for her to do so. However, she might want to put in a forwarding address so that any mail that might have gone to her mother would go to her, and she could notify any creditors or anyone else that might want to know that she had passed.

 

[Zigner]

With no assets, why do anything?

For LdiJ, the wife can't legally put in a mail forwarding order without being appointed administrator of the estate. Of course, people in this type of situation do it all the time, but they're not supposed to.

https://www.usps.com/manage/mail-for-deceased.htm

 

[Santana19]

Thanks all - leaning towards what LDiJ and Zigner's advice, that is - do as little as possible. My wife will be attempting to notify the creditors she knows of (mother in law was not the best record keeper,) assist her caregiver in clearing out her apartment and make sure the proper authorities have been notified. Other than that will let the state handle anything else, as mentioned there are virtually no assets to speak of - she did have a bank account but even that has hardly anything in it. Thinking the state can just take that over as well and pay out the little amount to any creditor that may come looking for payment. Not looking to take on any of her obligations, but morally want to do a few things (as outlined above.)

 

[t74]

Your wife is not responsible for her bills (unless she cosigned ). Be sure she does obtain several death certificates. The funeral home often orders these for the family; if not, they are relatively easy to obtain.

You may reconsider notifying creditors if the state will be handling things. Some are quite persistent in pursuing payment from people not responsible for payment; you don't want to be on their radar. Let the state handle everything.

 

[Zigner]

Other than that will let the state handle anything else, as mentioned there are virtually no assets to speak of - she did have a bank account but even that has hardly anything in it. Thinking the state can just take that over as well and pay out the little amount to any creditor that may come looking for payment.

The state doesn't do that.