Cotati, CA Estate Planning Law Firms & Lawyers

Her estate and all of her assets are responsible for those debts. If she has insufficient assets to pay the debts, there will be no distributions from her estate to her heirs but the heirs are not liable for any of the unpaid debts.

You do not need to do anything to the Power of Attorney because there is a change of phone numbers. The contemplated change is not a material change that would trigger an amendment to a Power of Attorney.

I'm presumming that you don't feel you can ask your step mother what arrangements your father made or whether he had a will. If you father had a will, it will be submitted to your local probate court, an executor named, and that person charged with the responsibility of paying off all of your father's debts and distributing his assets. If he didn't have a will, your state's intestacy laws will determine who can be named executor and who can inherit the estate. Many states divide an intestate estate between the wife and the children in a predetermined percentage.