Can I File Bankruptcy For my Deceased Parent’s Home in Walker, MN?

What happens when the unexpected happens? You are going along and unexpectedly (or perhaps it is expected), your parent passes away without a will, leaving their home to you as the beneficiary. You are now trying to juggle the mortgage payment on your parent’s home in an effort to keep the home in the family, in addition to another mortgage and your own debt. Pretty soon you realize that your parents were behind on their mortgage payments when they passed away and you get that dreaded foreclosure notice. You were barely making ends meet before and now you need to come up with additional money to save the house.

What bankruptcy options are there for a deceased family’s home?

Well, there it is in the mailbox. The Notice of Foreclosure. You weren’t expecting it and now you don’t know what to do. You are the beneficiary of the home and you do not want to have to sell it right now in a haste nor do you want to let it go back to the bank. What do you do? What CAN you do? The house is titled in your name (it has to be in order for a Chapter 13 to be effective in this instance), you just inherited it, and someone is living there and paying rent (or you are the one living there)! Filing a Chapter 13 bankruptcy can save the home. The Chapter 13 bankruptcy will stop the foreclosure, get caught up on the arrears, and as long as you maintain the mortgage payments thereafter: keep the home. This is assuming, of course, that the other debts of the estate have been paid OR the estate is not being forced to sell the home to pay your deceased parent’s other creditors. If you have recently inherited a home from a deceased relative and the mortgage is past due, contact Kain & Scott today to discuss all of the potential outcomes and solutions.

Can I stop the sheriff’s sale of my deceased family’s home?

You did not think there was anything you could do once you received the foreclosure notice on your deceased parent’s home in Walker, Minnesota. You happen to be talking to a friend or doing some google searching and you think to yourself, “well, it’s worth a shot to at least ASK.” The good news is that there IS something that can be done. If you file a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you can stop the sheriff’s sale of the home you grew up in and have now inherited. That’s right, even though the sale is scheduled, you still have hope and you still have options (assuming the same circumstances as discussed above, e.g. the title of the home is in your name and someone is living in the home). Filing a Chapter 13 bankruptcy stops the sheriff’s sale (assuming it gets filed before the sale happens) and can help bring the mortgage current. Calling Kain & Scott once you receive the Notice of the sheriff’s sale can prevent the sale of the home and keep the home in your family until you are ready to part with it. We are here to help.

I’m overwhelmed, how do I do all of this?

The light at the end of the tunnel that I spoke of above starts with a call or email (or web chat!) to Kain & Scott. We will be with you through every step of the bankruptcy process. This begins with an initial consultation with one of our attorneys. This can be done in person, over the phone, Skype, or Facetime. Once you begin that process, we do the heavy lifting. We pull your credit report and fill out the bankruptcy petition and accompanying schedules. You have to take the first of two credit counseling courses (either online or over the phone). You then come in for what we call a Review and Sign appointment. This is a two-hour long appointment that is spent reviewing the petition and schedules as well as determining a payment plan (the first payment being due within a month of filing the bankruptcy petition). After this appointment, your bankruptcy petition is usually filed within 3-4 business days.

But after I file, what happens?

Once your bankruptcy is filed, you take a second credit counseling course (again, either online or over the phone). The most important part about filing is that it stops the foreclosure or sheriff’s sale. About a month after your bankruptcy is filed, you will have a 341 hearing (more affectionately known as a meeting of the creditors). This is a meeting with the bankruptcy trustee (an attorney that oversees your bankruptcy case) and he or she asks questions about information contained within your bankruptcy petition and schedules. If creditors are present (which rarely happens), they may also ask questions regarding your financial situation and the information contained in the petition and schedules. There is no need to be nervous about this meeting because an attorney from Kain & Scott is with you every step of the way, including right next to you at this meeting. After the 341 hearing, there is a confirmation hearing where the payment plan is confirmed, but your attendance is not required. You make the payments for the required time and at the end of the plan, the remaining unsecured debt is discharged.

All it takes is a call to Kain & Scott or a visit to our office near Walker to set up the initial consultation! 

Click Here For Driving Directions