My Mom passed June 10, 2024. We live in NC. She had no life insurance, no living will and no power of attorney. She owned two properties but was paying payments of back property taxes monthly and was almost paid up. The only medical insurance she had was Medicare. She has tons of medical bills. She had been diagnosed with cancer since 2017. What do I need to do about the properties or will they be taken and tied up for her unpaid bills? I keep getting mail from creditors telling me to contact them for payment arrangements. Am I stuck with paying all these bills that were left and what should I do about the properties since they weren’t legally placed into my name?
As a 1st step, I’d look at last tax bill on each, is tax assessor placed value on them way way more than entire delinquency still owed? If it is, imo you do what’s needed to keep it from redemption.
Most States run on 3 sequential years tax lien with year 4 redemption system. If NC does this, this means taxes unpaid are listed in tax sale property listing annually in newspaper and “sold” at a specific time to the highest bidder for that years sale. Top bidder is given a tax sale lien for that year only. Bidders usually have to plunk down cash or certified funds to get a bidder # in advance too.
Say 1st year taxes unpaid was 2020 for $3,000 & sale is in 2021; bidding in 2021 was hot & heavy and my winning bid was $3,456, so I overpaid by $456 as my issued by the tax collector tax deed lien is for the 3K owed 2020 only. I don’t yet own the property; I only have a lien for its first year of delinquency. It’s still owned by the old owner. County tax assessor tend to place pretty high interest (18-28%), which old owner owes as well & has to repay all to get it off the future redemption list. If old owner pays it off, I get only 3K back BUT get the interest. & that sweet sweet high interest is what most folks who do tax sales want, not the property but repay the taxes I paid PLUS the high interest paid. So you do have that aspect in your favor should you want to keep her properties.
So 2021 taxes $3,500 & not paid, again I bid on it in 2022 but this year nobody bids against me and I pay the actual tax bill of $3,500 and get 2021 tax sale deed. Then in 2023, I miss tax sale and someone else bids on it for delinquency of 4K. The property now has 3 sequential years of delinquency so in 2024, I can go to the courthouse, file for redemption of my year 1 tax lien as it’s at 4 years redemption time. So I go to the courthouse, I own year 2 so that gets ignored, pay the county the $ for year 3 bidder and pay current year. I now own the property with the title issued as a Tax Deed. Not a Warranty Deed but a Tax Deed which is kinda junky to get lending on, so to get a nice clean title, I would hire a real estate attorney to do a Quiet Title Action which means a hearing before a judge and as long as nobody files documents to show cause, judge signs off on the Action and this quashes any ability for you, others, even a mortgage co to try to ever get property back. What is important for you in this drama, is at any point you could go to the courthouse, pay what's needed to push off that years sale &/or file to retain ownership. The judge hearing the Quiet usually will give deference to family if they have the $ to settle with the high bidder and can show documentation as to why they are late.
My point in this is you probably can go pay that first year of her delinquency + interest + fees and get properties off the about to be up for full redemption list. Tax assessor does not care who pays taxes, only that it gets paid. It can stay in her name- assuming there is no mortgage - really indefinitely while you muck through the intestate death process.
if no will, then it’s an intestate death, and it will imho absolutely need an attorney to do whatever needed. Not a DIY.
All States have an “open by” date for anything probate, (like for TX is 4 years from date of death), so you have to make a decision and get a probate atty who does intestate b4 then. Good luck!
I agree to not respond to the creditors at this point unless they are threatening to shut off power or essential utilities then you need to get guidance from an attorney sooner.
First thing: do NOT contact her creditors! Unless you signed something at some point saying you would be responsible for her bills, these are still her bills, not yours - or I should say, they are now the estate's bills. DO NOT let any creditor tell you that YOU are responsible to pay them, and do NOT tell them you will pay, because then you DO become responsible. If they call you, just tell them mom passed on 6/10. Do not give them any additional information at this point in time. If they send mom mail, send it back "refused, addressee is deceased".
Now, did your mom have a will, and if so, are you the executor? If mom had no will, then she died intestate, and probate court will have to assign an executor. If mom left a will, then the executor becomes responsible for settling the estate, including figuring out what to do with the property and paying off any of your mom's debts. After getting the ok from probate court, it will be the executor's job to speak to mom's creditors on behalf of the estate and make any arrangements for payment of the debts. If the estate is such that it will not cover her bills, then the debt will be written off after the estate is liquified and the funds have been distributed. Her outstanding debt(s) will have to be settled before any of her beneficiaries get their share of whatever inheritance they are granted in her will. And there is a hierarchy of how those debts are paid: I believe it's something like back taxes/current taxes paid first, outstanding mortgages second (if there is property sold), medical third, unsecured (credit card) debt fourth, or something along those lines. Inheritance paid to the beneficiaries is the last thing that gets paid, after everything else in the estate is settled.
If you are not the executor, then this is really out of your hands, so to speak, but the up-side is that you will not be at all responsible to pay any of her debts. If you are the executor, then you will need the help of an estate lawyer to get you through this. This lawyer will probably look to charge you a percentage of what the estate is valued at - including the property - so be prepared for that, as well.
Now, if mom left no will, and the property you are talking about has little to no value, you (and any other siblings that exist) ***might***want to consider just letting the property be seized for unpaid taxes. But again, this is something that you want to talk to a lawyer/tax accountant/financial planner about.
Good luck!
Regarding your question, it's definitely something you'd ultimately need to consult a lawyer for to make sure that you're handling everything correctly. You can start off having a consult - lawyers can initially answer questions over the phone and some free of charge.
You said that your mom didn't have a "living will" - which is different than a regular Will, which details who she chose to be the Executor of the Will. Did she have a regular Will? Are there also other siblings?
Regarding her medical bills, I would assume it comes out of her "estate", and the Executor reconciles it all, but it's really for a trust and estate lawyer or elder lawyer to properly advise you.
Again, wishing you much healing ~