Concord, TX Estate Planning Law Firms & Lawyers

This is a tricky question. The answer depends on a few things. First, did the buyer pay any kind of earnest money for the property to your relative? If the answer is yes, and that buyer executed and filed a deed, the buyer may have technically owned the land before you inherited it, meaning that you essentially inherited nothing. If the answer is no, the terms of the sales agreement prevail. My strongest recommendation is to consult with a local attorney who is familiar with real estate and estate planning law as soon as possible to find out what your rights and obligations are.

Generally no, the family is not responsible, but assets remaining in father's estate might be, depending on value. The question discusses death benefit as if that is the only asset. If that is the case, the death benefit is not an asset of his estate and may not be assessable for payment of the father's debts. Also, if mother/wife or children signed any documents agreeing to be responsible for father's debts, then it would be those agreements, not the law, that would make them responsible.

Once a Will has been submitted for probate, it becomes a public document and can be read by anyone on the website of or requested from the local probate clerk.  You may think that your mother had no reason to leave things to someone who took care of her when you did not but she may have thought differently.  Since someone can make a Will in a "lucid moment" and a Will must be notarized with two witnesses, it would be very difficult to prove that she did not make the Will of her own accord, whatever her general condition.  In addition, undue influence must be so great as to overpower a person's normal wishes and desires.  While it is easy to imagine that someone was influenced by the care they received in their dying days, it is not so easy to imagine that a Will gifting the person who provided that care was obtained through undue influence.