Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in New York
My father in law passed recently and my husband is the administrator. We just had an action and items were sold such as tools, motorcycle, mobile home, clothes, canoe, and kitchen ware. Does everything go first to the creditors, or only the things that have a number such as the tools, motorcycle, and mobile home? As administrators we used a lot of our own money to take care of business for the estate and we would like to be paid back as well.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Expenses of the auction come off the top. Often, after expenses are taken (including paying back people who used their own money to take care of business for the estate, wages to anyone who helped with the sale-such as accounting for the funds, attending the sale, tagging, cashiering, etc., including relatives of the deceased) there simply are no funds remaining for payment of bills that may have been owed by the deceased. There is no rule that administrators and their helpers have to donate their time...of course, keeping records is important and all income wages are taxable...I assume by "number" you mean identification numbers? Makes no difference. If there is a lien on any item (like an unpaid secured loan) the lender may want to get paid BUT there is a real issue that has to be determined...if the value of the item is L O W, then there is no security and no lien. You would have to provide more information about the creditors to get a complete answer...
Estate expenses are paid first, then creditors. Beneficiaries last. You should be dealing with an attorney to avoid penalties.
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