Estate/Debt of Husband-NY Law?

Question

Story: A woman's husband passes away and leaves behind a debt of close to $13,000 from a bank loan. He left in his bank account under $5,000 and also some stocks worth about $6,000.

The husband had no will and it has been almost a year and still the wife has not filled the paper work to claim herself as the executor of his estate.

She is concerned that the debt will fall upon her. She is an unemployed, low-income senior citizen.

They had one child who is a married adult.

What should the widow do? She has no idea how to proceed and everyone gives conflicting information.

Serious law info only please!

One of the stocks were in both the husband's and the wife's names so now I understand that the wife is entitled to that stock completly.

The wife would like to put the stocks under the daughter's name. The only way to do this is to finally fill out the paper work so that the wife would be responsible for the estate and quickly do all the paper work to sign over the stocks to the daughter. Would this be possible or is it totally illegal?
The father had promised this stock to his daughter but everything happened so quickly he never did the paper work.

What if everything were to be left as-is?
What if, hypothetically, we'd just wait everything out and in, say, 10 years we claim the stocks? Is there a statute of limitation on the debt and claiming the stocks?

Where could the wife (my mother) get help? She cannot afford a lawyer.

Answer 1

I am assuming that the widow was not a co-borrower on the loan. If she had signed the note at the bank, she would be liable on the loan herself.

Under the New York intestate law, EPTL § 4-1.1 (a)(1), she is entitled to $50,000 plus half of the decedent's assets. However, since the decedent had no assets worth more than the bank account and the stocks, her interest would be limited to that.

If the bank accounts and the stock were owned as joint assets, either as tenants in common or as tenants by the entireties, she would own them by operation of law, and there would be no need to open an estate administration.

I am assuming that the funeral bill has been paid.

Where a person has a situation involving a possible insolvent estate, it is best to involve a professional in sorting out matters. Here, we have a situation where the estate liabilities are greater than the estate assets. State law provides for a priority of payment of claims and expenses, with priority given to payment of the funeral bill and administration expenses. In this case, get an attorney, and open an estate administration. After liquidating assets and payment of priority claims, the bank loan will be paid "pennies on the dollar", and the estate will be closed. Note that if family members paid the funeral bill, they would be reimbursed out of estate assets.