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If a parent has debts and legal problems, would their kids inherit those if they were written into a will and then be expected to pay them back. And if so, is it possible to ask to be disinherited either before or after the parent dies (ask lawyer to take your name out of the will)?
If a parent has debts and legal problems, would their kids inherit those if they were written into a will and then be expected to pay them back. And if so, is it possible to ask to be disinherited either before or after the parent dies (ask lawyer to take your name out of the will)?
I am not an attorney, but it is my understanding that while a child does not have to pay back their late parent's debts, that does not mean that the "parent's estate" is off the hook. I believe that all debts need to be paid back first before any money is distributed to the heirs. If the estate has more debts than assets it does not fall to the heirs to pay off those debts (unless they co-signed a loan or are co-owners in a business or something like that).
This is definitely a question for a lawyer. Obviously the attorney who wrote up the will thought that the debts and legal problems could be passed on to the heirs or the attorney would not have written that into the parent's will.
If a parent has debts and legal problems, would their kids inherit those if they were written into a will and then be expected to pay them back. And if so, is it possible to ask to be disinherited either before or after the parent dies (ask lawyer to take your name out of the will)?
the estate has to pay off debts and file taxes via the executor before money is given to heirs .
some states can actually hold kids responsible for parents long term care bills . it is rarely done but PA recently did it and used the law in a special situation .
The children are not responsible for their parents debts. A person can also disclaim anything they inherit.
As mentioned above their are some exceptions for long term care.
The debts have to be paid by the estate and this may leave the estate broke so the beneficiaries do not receive any assets.
If you inherit a house with a mortgage the mortgage does have to be paid and the child maybe able to make an agreement for the mortgage to be transferred to them. The alternative would be for the estate to pay the mortgage.
many states enacted "filial laws" that made family members responsible for aging or ill parents. However, with the advent of Medicaid, Social Security and other programs, some of the burden has shifted from adult children to social programs. These have largely rendered filial laws moot. Still, 28 states and Puerto Rico have filial laws currently on the books.
pa recently used this law to go after the children . but it was a unique kind of situation .
If a parent has debts and legal problems, would their kids inherit those if they were written into a will and then be expected to pay them back.
No one can ever be held liable for the personal debt of another.
I say personal debt, because there are certain business organization structures in which you are liable for another's debt, specifically general partnerships. That's also true for limited partnerships in which the general partners and the limited partner(s) are liable, but the liability of the limited partner(s) is, well, limited to a specific dollar amount.
But that doesn't apply here.
You can never be held liable for a mortgage or car note, unless you are the signor or co-signor, and you cannot be held liable for another's credit card debt, unless the card was issued jointly.
The same holds true for all contractual obligations. If you did not sign the contract, you are not liable, nor can you ever be liable.
Note that when a person dies, the heirs are not liable for debts, rather it is the decedent's estate that is liable for the debts, if any exist.
A Will has a person named as executor/executrix and he/she is responsible for administering the decedent's estate, including paying all just debts owed, before disbursing monies to the heirs.
You should check the mortgage documents carefully, because when my mother bought her house in Sarasota at age 63, she got a special type of insurance that will pay off the balance of the mortgage upon her death, so the house will pass to my sister and I with a free and clear title.
As far as legal issues are concerned, no one can ever be held criminally liable for the crimes of another, unless they were conspirators, were complicit, or were accessories either before, during or after the fact.
If there are pending civil court matters, the death of the defendant will result in the dismissal of the case.
If the civil matters are attempts to collect debts, the heirs cannot be named as 3rd Party Defendants. The Plaintiffs have to move to dismiss the case, and then file a claim in Probate Court against the estate.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PriscillaVanilla
And if so, is it possible to ask to be disinherited either before or after the parent dies (ask lawyer to take your name out of the will)?
You may ask, but that is incredibly stupid.
There is no legal mechanism by which you can compel someone to disinherit you.
As a named beneficiary in a Will, you have two options: accept and then redistribute the monies or items to another party, like a charity, or another family member or even a friend or acquaintance, or you can simply decline to accept.
There is no legal mechanism by which you can compel someone to disinherit you.
As a named beneficiary in a Will, you have two options: accept and then redistribute the monies or items to another party, like a charity, or another family member or even a friend or acquaintance, or you can simply decline to accept.
there are other legal options too for disclaiming money and reasons for it , and this is where estate attorneys are worth every penny for what they do because we are not aware of so much . the above two reasons are not the only reasons and in fact won't work in our case .
we have a disclaimer trust in place .
at one time our assets went over new yorks exclusion for not paying estate taxes and if you went over by just 5% you paid estate taxes from dollar 1 not just on the overage so it was a nasty tax before ny went to the federal level ..
the disclaimer trust gives the surviving spouse up to 9 month after death to throw a switch where they disclaim 1/2 the money due them and 1./2 the estate goes in to a irrevocable trust where it eventually passes to the kids and bypasses my spouse. she gets to take income from it and emergency money but basically she gave up the right to control and free usage of the money . the trust allowed us to pass 2x our assets . we really hoped to never use it . now that ny went to the federal level we are good for now .
if she does not throw the switch then it is transparent , the estate does not split and the trust does not come in to play. so she just accepts the money and the estate is all one total estate . one total estate is fine as long as it clears the estate tax cliff when it goes to the kids .
at the time with ny only at 1 million if we had no disclaimer trust and had a common death in an accident the estate would have gotten hammered when it passed to the kids .
Last edited by mathjak107; 09-08-2018 at 03:51 PM..
some states can actually hold kids responsible for parents long term care bills . it is rarely done but PA recently did it and used the law in a special situation .
Even if the kids don't inherit anything and don't have money to pay for their parents long term care?
yes ...... it has nothing to do with inheriting anything . the laws say nothing about how much the kids have to have before they are held responsible .
"Son Liable for Mom’s $93,000 Nursing Home Bill Under ‘Filial Responsibility’ Law
There are 29 states that currently have laws making adult children responsible for their parents’ care costs if their parents are unable to pay for their own care. These “filial responsibility” laws have rarely been enforced, but six years ago when the Federal Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 made it more difficult to qualify for Medicaid long-term care coverage, some elder law attorneys predicted that nursing homes would start using the laws as a means to be paid.
It has taken some time, but Pennsylvania has seen the first case in which a nursing home sought to have a child pay a parent’s care expense by asserting the state’s filial responsibility law. In early 2012, a Pennsylvania appeals court found a son liable for his mother’s $93,000 nursing home bill under the state’s filial responsibility law. Health Care & Retirement Corporation of America v. Pittas (Pa. Super. Ct., No. 536 EDA 2011, May 7, 2012).
yes ...... it has nothing to do with inheriting anything . the laws say nothing about how much the kids have to have before they are held responsible .
That's scary considering many people don't have the financial resources to pay for their parent's long term care which could extend for 10, 20, 30 years or longer.
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