By Jeff Wagoner

W M Law President

We often have initial consultations with people who are faced with wrapped up the estate of a loved one who recently passed away, but that person really didn’t have much property.  Here’s an example:  Uncle Joe never married and had no children.  He passed away last week.  He rented an apartment (with 6 months remaining on the lease), drove a car worth $10,000 with a $6,000 loan on it, had a checking account with $1,000 and a savings account with $250 in them, had a pet dog, worked a part time job, drew Social Security of $1,100 per month, had some furniture, clothing, household goods, a couple of TVs and other inexpensive electronics and an old motorcycle that didn’t run.  Oh, and he also has $12,000 in credit card debt.  The family is looking to you to “just take care of everything.”  You are, after all, “the responsible one.”  But, what do you do and where do you start?

First off, you know you need some help – you can’t just expect the bank to give you the money from the accounts and what are you going to do about the titles to the car and […]