Cooke County, TX Estate Planning Law Firms & Lawyers

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.

If one owner out of six refuses to sign, any of the others can sue for "partition," which is an action to divide the property. It probably can't be divided up six ways, so the court would order it sold. If we are talking about heirs, this would mean that six people are entitled to a share of the owner's estate. The owner's personal representative can sell the house, and does not need the approval of the heirs (although an heir could object that the sale was not for sufficient value, or was defective in some other way).

Depending on how things were set up, there may or may not be a Will and even if there is one, there may be no assets to pass under the Will. A Will covers only those assets that are in the decedent's name alone. Any assets that were jointly held or that have a designated beneficiary, pass outside of probate and outside the control of any Will. So finding the Will will not help you, if the assets were set up in such a way as to avoid probate.