Actually, yes. And I know it sucks for some people but this is how it works.
It also works this way when it’s not been able to serve civil process on someone. The action gets published in the local legal rag and that is considered a legal serve. When I was a Sheriffs Dep on the process unit and we couldn’t get someone served it got published and that was considered a legal serve.
If Jane Doe owes you money and has enough money in her estate that she could have paid you, why were you not even trying to track her down for 6 months or more?
It’s no different than if Jane Doe had packed up her things and moved to Walla Walla. It’s on you as the creditor to figure that out and chase the person through the courts.
There are the very obvious things. If you are a workman who did work on Jane’s mansion and got stiffed, and so the court put a lien on the house - that should be registered with the titles office, and so the property (I assume) cannot change owner without paying off the lien - and the executor will find this out. Any other debt, no different than trying to collect while she was alive -better be able to prove the debt exists to the satisfaction of the executor or a court.
What happens if a house has a lien on it? I assume title does not pass to the heir unless that is paid off? Can house sit in limbo with a dead owner and unpaid lien for any length of time, or is there a time limit that the estate should be wrapped up? Or can the lien holder force a sale?
I understand that Florida is a haven for deadbeats since the homestead cannot be seized and sold in the event of a bankruptcy; but does it automatically become the heir’s homestead if they move in when the original owner dies?
Remember that even a court judgment doesn’t mean you can collect right away. For example, Jane Doe owes you money so you obtain a court judgment against Jane, but Jane has no garnishable assets (only income is Social Security or VA benefits, e.g.); when she’s dead, more assets may be reachable, and your judgment is good for anywhere from five to twenty years or more (depending on jurisdiction). You need to check on her every few months to see whether she’s died, although her executor is supposed to notify you as a “reasonably ascertainable” creditor.
Another example would be a continuing debt, such as a credit card or a personal loan or car loan. The person is making monthly payments, then the payments stop coming. You have a defined length of time (in my state, generally four months) to file a claim with the probate court.
This is going to be state-specific. If the heirs have opened a probate action, there are generally time limits, and the heirs will need the court’s permission to keep the estate open longer, which requires showing good cause. If the heirs know there are a lot of debts and not going to be anything to inherit, they may not bother to open a probate action, and then the creditor may have to do so.
In Florida, the homestead is not reachable by creditors, in the lifetime of the debtor or afterwards. The heirs don’t need to move in to preserve that status; the homestead is not part of the probate estate and hence won’t be used to pay creditors.
Good point. That slipped my mind (I don’t do estate work).