Cleburne, TX Estate Planning Law Firms & Lawyers

Your mother's estate is responsible for paying her debts. If there are insufficient assets in her estate to pay all of her debts, unless the debt is joint such as a co-signed loan, you have no personal obligation to pay for your mother's debts. Some creditors and collection agencies will imply that you as a relative have a legal obligation to pay; however, this is a collection tactic and is simply untrue. Where the estate is insolvent, Wisconsin Statutes section 859.25 specifies the priority in which debts and expenses are to be applied: 1. Costs and expenses of administering the estate. 2. Reasonable funeral and burial expenses. 3. Provisions for the family under certain limited circumstances. 4. Reasonable and necessary expenses of the last sickness, including compensation of persons attending your mother. 5. All debts and taxes owed to the government. 6. Wages due to employees earned within 3 months before the date of death. 7. Property assigned to a surviving spouse. 8. All other claims. You should explain to your mother's creditors that there are no assets in her estate available to pay and supply any documentation requested by the State of Wisconsin with regard to her nursing home care expenses.

Make sure you are the beneficiary of the policy and not an estate or trust. In Michigan, the policy proceeds would then pass to you and be exempt from attachment by creditors.

A Power of Attorney is a sharing of rights between living people, and it is void upon the death of the principal. Not to make light of a death, but dead people do not own property - that is the role of probate. There is no requirement that a will be presented for probate, but often a properly executed will is the simplest way to start the probate process. See what property remains in the decedent's name, and if that property cannot be transferred to the heirs or beneficiaries (real estate, financial accounts with no named beneficiary), contact a local attorney to see what form of probate best suits the needs of the estate.