Bleiblerville, TX Estate Planning Law Firms & Lawyers

Children are not responsible for the unknown debts of their parents. Your father's estate will be responsible for his debts and your mother could be responsible for your father's debts.

It's not automatic. To set the probate process in motion, someone (e.g. the executor in the will or another family member) has to petition the court to be appointed. Normally the person who wants to file the petition will hire a probate attorney to represent them. The question of where the probate estate should be opened is an issue of fact. You mentioned that he was temporarily living in another state. Probate should be opened in the state where the decedent last had his permanent residence. So for example, if I live in Illinois, but happen to die while on vacation on Florida, my estate should be in Illinois even though I died in Florida. It's a little trickier if you're father was actually stayed in another state for a period of months, or years. It's really a question of fact and should come back to where he intended to live on a permanent basis. But this issue can be the subject of dispute at times, in part because state inheritances laws can differ.

If the stroke affected the mental capacity, such that she can't sign, she cannot execute a power of attorney. You'll need to file for a guardianship. If she still have full mental acuity, but cannot use her hands, you can still get a power of attorney executed.