Bremen, GA Estate Planning Law Firms & Lawyers

Your mother should have dealt with the house as soon as possible after your stepfather died. His interest in the house may have become part of his probate estate at his death, depending on how the house was owned. That would happen even if no one opened a probate estate. If his name was on the deed, but he and your mother did not own the house as "joint tenants with rights of survivorship" (the deed has to say words like that or very similar), then it is very likely the case that his children now own shares in the house (for example, if this is a Georgia property, and he and your mother owned the house as "tenants in common," then your mother would own 1/2 + 1/6 of the property - her own half plus 1/3 of his half, and his children could own 4/6 of the property in equal shares.) If he and your mother owned the house as joint tenants (or, if it's not a Georgia property, they could have owned it as tenants by the entirety, which does not have to be stated on the deed, necessarily), then his interest would have transferred to her automatically. Before you move in and begin paying anything, you need to get a good probate attorney to help you figure out exactly who now owns interests in the house. If it does turn out to be all your mother's, you will still need to deal with her estate. Since she has debts, those will have to be dealt with. If they can all be dealt with without the house having to be sold to pay them, then you and your siblings (all other heirs, actually, which may not be just you and your siblings if any sibling predeceased your mother) could agree to let you and your wife take on the house. It will then need to be deeded from the estate to you. If your stepfather's interest in the house didn't pass to your mother 100% under the deed, however, then his children likely also own interests in the house and they will need to be dealt with in addition to your needing to deal with the probate estate for your mother. You will have to open a probate estate for her, however, either way. Get a good attorney; it may not be an easy job and title to real estate is too important to risk messing things up.

Your aunt may be responsible for the unpaid utilities unless there is some written agreement that the relative cover that cost. This is a contractual issue rather than probate. Your aunt will not be responsible for any unpaid debts of the deceased. She may have a claim against the ex-wife and sons if they took property from the mobile home that was a permanent part of the structure or that she personally owned. If she has title to the mobile home and the ex-wife and sons don't turn it back over to her, she should call the sheriff to have them removed.