My step-son bought a house and your deceased husband has is name on the loan they put the house up for collateral the house is in foreclosure. The deed is joint tentancy. Will I be responsible.?

You used the phrase “We own a home...” This implies both of your names are on the title. The exact language used in conjunction with the names on the title is extremely important. If the language on the title is “John Doe and Jane Doe, as joint tenants” or “John Doe and Jane Doe, as joint tenants with right of survivorship” then your spouse?

S interest in the property passed to you at the moment of death automatically. Similarly, if the phrasing of the title is something like, “John Doe and Jane Doe, with a tenancy by the entirety” then your spouse? S interest in the property passed to you at the moment of death automatically.

With either a joint tenancy or a tenancy in the entirety, because your spouse? S interest passed to you without going through the probate process, the house is not an asset of your spouse? S estate.

That means that the creditor? S have no legal means of stating any claim against your house — there is no way for them to attach a lien to the house. On the other hand, if the phrasing used on the title to the house is something like, “John Doe and Jane Doe as tenants in common,” then we have a more complicated situation.

In a tenancy in common, each person on the title has an undivided interest in the property. Each person can dispose of their share of the property without it affecting the ownership rights of others. Unlike a joint tenancy or a tenancy in the entirety, upon death the decedent?

S interest does not flow to the other owners instantly. Instead, the interest is considered an asset of the estate, and is distributed according to the decedent? S will or the state?

S intestate distribution rules. In this case, if the house was titled as a tenancy in common, you would retain your interest, then as spouse receive one-half of her interest. Her remaining interest would proceed through probate.

If estate was debt-free, the remaining interest would be distributed to her other heirs, such as any children she may have had. If the house was titled as a tenancy in common, and your spouse? S estate had outstanding debt, then it is within the administrator?

S power to sell the interest to raise funds to satisfy the debt. As you may have gathered, the rules regarding how a property may be titled are intricate (they are almost universally hated among law students, too, but I digress.) For that reason, I recommend you take the documents regarding your spouse? S vehicle loan, her recent credit card statement, the title to your property, and any other documents that you think may be important regarding her finances to an Alabama attorney experienced in property or probate law.

He or she will review the entire situation and give you a more detailed and precise discussion of your rights and liabilities. First, for additional general information on who is responsible for deceased person? S debts, see the Federal Trade Commission documents Paying the Debts of a Deceased Relative: Who Is Responsible?

And FTC Issues Final Policy Statement on Collecting Debts of the Deceased. Both documents are excellent starting points for family members dealing with this issue. Second, to learn more specific information about your state?

S probate rules, consult with a lawyer in your state experienced in probate law.