No more money in estate for bill

[amchandl]

What is the name of your state? North Carolina

What happens when there isn't enough money left in someone's estate to pay all of the bills like taxes, funeral bills, visa bills? The person had alot of land that was deeded to his children about 10 years ago with a life estate attached. The life estate part vanishes after the person's death right? Supposedly the land went directly to those it was deeded to. Can the land be taken back from the children it was deeded to and sold to pay debt?

 

[divgradcurl]

What is the name of your state? North Carolina

What happens when there isn't enough money left in someone's estate to pay all of the bills like taxes, funeral bills, visa bills? The person had alot of land that was deeded to his children about 10 years ago with a life estate attached. The life estate part vanishes after the person's death right? Supposedly the land went directly to those it was deeded to. Can the land be taken back from the children it was deeded to and sold to pay debt?

If there isn't any money in the estate, then you will need to tell the various agencies that the person is dead, there is no estate, and that's it. They may try and get you to pay, but if the estate is really $0, there is no responsibility to pay off these debts. Someone should take it upon themselves to file the deceased's 1040 and state taxes for this year (assuming the death occured this year) so that tax stuff doesn't keep coming.

It's highly unlikely that the land could be taken. The creditors would need to prove that he gave away the land to defraud them, or otherwise keep from paying them. If it had been 10 months, then maybe -- but 10 years is an awfully long time to go back...