Can someone be sued for deceased parent's debt?

Question

My mother passed away last April. My father is still living, though ill, so my sister is listed as the informant on her death certificate. My mother owned 2 houses, one of which was her mother's. Both houses were paid off, however, due to her illness she was behind on taxes. My sister just received a letter in the mail stating that she (and my father) are being sued for those unpaid taxes. In the court documents was a copy of the death certificate with her name highlighted as the informant. She has a home of her own with 3 kids and a husband and cannot afford to pay for the taxes on another house. No one was listed as an executor, so how is it that they are able to sue her for my mother's debt?

Answer 1

Your mother doesn’t own the house anymore. Whoever owns the house owes the taxes. But I’d invest in at least a consultation with a lawyer. There are so many situations with regard to real estate where people have an easy “out” and don’t know it.

Answer 2

Why is your sister being sued for the taxes unless her name is on the deed?

Your father, by marriage, can be held responsible, but the sins of the father do not go to the seventh generation, legally.



Second, who is the letter ACTUALLY from? Is it a court document, seal and all, or is it from some firm?

This could be a scam if it is not fro the actual county or state.



Taxes are owed and your mother's estate must pay the taxes, but your sister is not obligated UNLESS she is on record as owning or part owning the house.



Contact theTax department for your city and start there.

Make sure this is legit.

Answer 3

Who got the houses after she died?



If someone dies with debt and owns something, like a house or money, then it is supposed to be used to pay off the debt. No one is allowed to inherit it until the debts are paid. If someone keeps or uses something that belonged to the dead person and should have been used to pay the debt, then yeah, they can get sued for that.

Answer 4

In the US, debt cannot be inherited.

HOWEVER, ALL debts must be paid out to the deceased person's assets before ANYTHING can be passed on to heirs.

If you received ANYTHING from the estate, you can be required to repay debts up to the value of whatever you received.

In the case you describe, I suspect one of the paid off homes will have to be sold to satisfy the debt(s).

I STRONGLY suggest consulting an attorney, because IF the deeds to the homes were not written so that the homes pass directly to someone without passing through the estate, you NEED to properly probate the estate.

Answer 5

They can't sue her, but they will get their money one way or another.. Either the estate pays or they can take the house & sell it at a tax auction. If your mother is the only name on the deed they cannot sue you. However, they do try to notify heirs so in case someone wants to come forward & pay the taxes to avoid losing the home

Answer 6

They cannot unless the houses are jointly owned with you or your father, see a lawyer to get the proceedings stopped.

Answer 7

Get a public defender. You are not responsible for another's debt.

Answer 8

Unless her name is on the deeds to the properties, no, they can't sue her. They don't sue for those anyway, they seize the home and auction it off. She needs to get the taxes current, or sell the home.

Answer 9

The ESTATE has to settle up all debts as much as possible before any inheritance can be done. In other words, before the title on the houses can be passed onto others, the taxes have to be paid up. If the taxes were not paid and they are still outstanding, the county can force a sale of the property to get their tax money. I suggest you pay up on the taxes before you lose the houses.

Answer 10

She won't be sued, but your mother's estate will be sued. As the informant she's being notified that this is happening and it needs to be taken care of with great urgency. Your parent's houses could be forcefully sold by auction to pay the taxes leaving your father with even less money or homeless than if he had taken care of this issue himself. As adult children you may not be liable for your mother's debt, but you should help them clean up this mess. More often then not they probably do not need money from you, but more help getting their finances back in order and that second house sold.

Answer 11

Of course they can. Anyone can be sued over anything. Winning is a different thing.

No child is EVER liable for their parent's debts. If the parent's estate can't cover the debt that's the end of it.

Answer 12

Your sister is not liable for her deceased mother's debt. Married couples normally have both names on the title to property so, assuming your Mom and Dad were married at the time of your Mom's death, your Dad is probably on the title(s) which would definitely make him liable for the taxes. ? The more confusing issue is that the feds and/or the state will eventually take the houses if the tax bill is not paid which seems like a pretty good incentive to pay the back taxes in order to inherit the houses or allow your Dad to sell them.

Answer 13

Anybody can be sued for anything (in US). It's not uncommon to sue everybody who might, in the most remote chance, be somehow connected to the cause of action. It's up the defendants to explain to a judge why they are not the proper parties to the lawsuit. If they feel that they were named in the lawsuit for some legally frivolous reason, they can ask for their legal fees to be paid by the other side. This all gets technical very quickly, and you MUST get your own lawyer if you want to win.

Answer 14

Hello khartfan111,



In the UK and many other countries when a person dies their debts die with them.



If the deceased has money and/or property then any debts will have to be paid from that but if this does not cover the debts the debts will remain unpaid.



If a husband dies and leaves no money or property and his wife is still alive she cannot be made to pay her husbands debt simply because the debts are not hers.



Poseidon

Answer 15

Your mothers 'estate' is being sued and if those properties have been past onto your father/sister without the estates debts first being paid then of course they can sue.



If your mother had debts and nothing to pass on, so no money in the bank, no property etc then the debt dies with the person

Answer 16

The real estate is still in the family (presumably, in the name of your father), which makes him the one responsible for paying property taxes. Since both houses are paid off, you don't want to lose one of them over taxes. Talk to dad, find out what cash assets he has available, and pay the taxes. Then sell the house so he'll be off the hook in the future, and have cash in the bank should the need arise.