Can I Give The Car Back?

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hdkrazee

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My father recently passed away. I am the executor of his estate. Other than a few personal items the only assets he had is about $10000.00 in the credit union and I was a joint owner of his accounts. I have closed out his accounts and I have possession of his funds. He still has an auto loan with the CU. It is solely in his name. I do not want the auto and do not want to pay for it, although I made one payment from his account before I closed it. My question is, can I just give the auto back to the CU or since I'm the executor of the estate am I responsible to continue paying for the auto? He lived in Maryland. Thank you!
 
You can give it back-- They may try to locate any other funds that may be avail-- ( that 10k$ ) if the auto sales for less then owed--- if there is value in the auto, you might want to try and sale it yourself and pay the loan off --
 
Can they take the money that's in my name ONLY? I withdrew his money, closed his accounts and now have that money in an account that is solely in my name. The Register of Wills told me that the money is mine and NOT part of his estate. That's the part that confuses me.
 
So does that mean that I'm not legally responsible for that debt? Sorry to ask so many questions, but this is a big concern. I live 4 hrs. away from where the car is right now (it's at my sister's house) and really need to do something with it soon because my sister is moving away, and the car has to go when she does next month. I just don't want to do anything I'm going to get in trouble for. He still owes over $9000. on the car. I tried to sell it but it's not worth that much according to the "Blue Book". I really appreciate your input!
 
So long as you are not on the loan and he has no assets then there is not much they can do but get their car and sale it for as much as they can to recover their loss
 
As the executor of his estate, you are legally responsible for paying his outstanding debts BEFORE you distribute the proceeds of the estate. Since you were legal joint owner of the accounts, ownership passed to you on your father's death outside the will, so the accounts didn't form part of the estate. Technically, now that it's yours, it's yours. But I would be concerned about whether you only had legal joint title to the bank account, not joint title in equity - if, for example, it was mostly your father's funds, and you just used the bank account to pay for his day-to-day expenses, it would be a joint tenancy in law, but not equity. Legal title to the funds passed to you, but beneficial interest in the money would pass to the estate. And you would now hold the funds in trust for the estate. Possibly, the CU could sue you for failure to discharge your duties as executor.
 
This is such a mess, and to be truthful very confusing! Up until he died I had never done anything at all with his accounts. Besides me, my sister and his step grandaughter (with whom he lived) were on his accounts too. The grandaughter took care of paying his bills from the account, but she also helped herself to his money as she pleased. My sister and I didn't want her to take what was left so we decided to close teh accounts so she couldn't have access to his funds. I now have sole posession of the money, in an account which is in my name only, in a different bank. Don't know if this makes any difference or not! He did have two hunting rifles, which he left to two of my cousins. They had to be appraised and together are worth around $2000. Since the estate is still in probate, the guns have not yet been given to my cousins. I'm afraid if I take the car back, the CU might try to take the guns. I really don't want that to happen because Dad really wanted them to have the guns. I really need to resolve this due to distance, time, etc. ANYONE have any suggestions or advice????? Maybe I should just make an appointment with an estate lawyer down in MD??? Thanks to all who responded!
 
Why dont you call the credit union? If you just keep the car and do nothing they are going to come repo it anyway-
What if he had life insurance on the car? You should really just call the Collection Manager @ the credit union and let them know he died and see what they want to do
 
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I actually went to the CU a couple of days after he died. They want me to sell the car and pay it off. He had no insurance on the loan.I even asked if I could just turn it back in to them and they really danced around the question, never giving me a yes or no answer. I tried selling it but not many people are in the market for a van with gas prices being so high, which is, I suspect, why the CU doesn't want to deal with it.
 
Now we have a new situation. Yesterday I received two checks, made out to my Dad, from a lawyer who has been representing him in an asbestos law suit (I didn't know about this). Lawyer says I have to return the money since they didn't know Dad had dies, BUT that my sister and I can re-file some papers to keep the suit active, and that we would receive any further awards. Will this keep his estate open? Will the money become part of the estate, or will it be ours? Lawyer says it may take years for everythng to be settled, but I want to settle this estate ASAP. ADVICE???
 
The estate should be entitled to receive anything that was due to your father. Whether the lawsuit was in the name of "Mr. X" or "Estate of Mr. X" is a technicality that should not prevent recovery. You might want to consult with an estates lawyer in your jurisdiction.

The money will become part of the estate. It will not flow to you directly.
 
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