Bonham, TX Estate Planning Law Firms & Lawyers

Your power of attorney has nothing to do with your mother's debts. Debts are generally addressed by the estate of the person who passed away. You may become responsible for debt if you were a co-signer or otherwise responsible for the debt along with the person who dies.  As for credit cards with your husband, that may be considered community debt.  You may write your wishes down, but it would be better to have formal Wills drafted to decrease the problems that could arise with any other type of Will you may draft on your own.

Living trusts are excellent devices for older couples that are very organized. In order to make a living trust work, you have to transfer assets regularly into the trust as opposed to personally owned. ?You have to track asset sales (if you sell a car owned by the trust, the proceeds are trust money not personal money. With younger couples, there is a tendency to ignore the technicalities of the trust and treat all assets as personal, then when there is a death the judge has no choice but to declare the trust has no assets and then you don't have a will or a trust. As an aside, there are a number of shady life insurance or investment salespeople who push living trusts very hard like they are the solution to every problem but what happens is the second they get your payment for the life insurance, they disappear and you get no help in implementing and maintaining the trust. A living trust is a way to avoid the costs of probate but the cost of a properly executed living trust - for most families is more than the cost of probate. ?Obviously, a wealthy family (assets in excess of $10 million) has entirely different considerations, particularly a family that controls a successful business. For most couples, wills and a careful review of the non-probate assets - (life insurance, IRAs, 401(k)s, annuities, inheritances, pensions and various other assets ARE NOT CONTROLLED BY THE WILL - this is a particular problem where the couple isn't married) are the best option.

It depends. Has this gone through probate and been distributed to the heirs, already? Or is the property still in the estate? If it is in the estate, then the Personal Representative can sell without getting ANYONE else's consent.