Is the surviving spouse or the estate responsible for a co-borrowed mortgage loan if one of the borrowers dies?

Question

If a couple owns a house in the entirety and each signed a mortgage loan, making each couple together and separately the "borrower," who is responsible to repay the loan when one of the borrowers dies? Doesn't the house and the loan avoid probate and therefore, both pass directly to the surviving spouse?

Kristen Carron · Answer

Yes.  If the house is owned as Tenants by the Entirety, then it will avoid probate and the surviving spouse will continue to make the mortgage payments as scheduled.

Dara J. Goldsmith · Answer

Both the real property titling/deed and loan documents need to be reviewed to answer the question correctly.  Without an actual review all someone can do is "guess"  on the outcome.

Bernard H. Greenberg · Answer

The surviving spouse is responsible for the mortgage and would either continue to make the monthly payments or refinance.

Brian Haggerty · Answer

If the house is held as tenants by the entirety, then, yes, surviving spouse inherits the decedent's interest, and now owns the whole house  subject to the mortgage. Survivor now owns all, and owes the whole amount of the mortgage.

Norman Green · Answer

Not a California question.  We don't have "a couple owns a house in the entirety"

Thomas Edward Gates · Answer

The surviving spouse is the remaining party responsible for the mortgage since they co-signed for the loan.

James Frederick · Answer

Under your limited facts, there would be no estate. The surviving spouse would remain obligated under the loan. The house would be the spouse's, as well.

Frances Headley · Answer

The co-borrower would remain responsible for the debt. How the title is held exactly would need to be examined to determine if probate is necessary or not.

Jay Rigdon · Answer

Both the surviving spouse and the estate owe the debt.

Mark T. Peters · Answer

It passes to the spouse, but that does not get rid of the debt or the mortgage.  It still has to be paid.

Marco Caviglia · Answer

When one is a co-obligor on a note, then, unless otherwise limited by the language, one may be severally as well as jointly liable, responsible for the whole if there is a default.  If the deed was held as tenants by the entirety or joint tenancy, the survivor inherits the other's share and owns the entire property.  The survivor is still liable on the note.  The estate only comes into play as a possible source of other inheritance which the survivor may be able to use to pay off the mortgage.  The probate attorney should be consulted for details and guidance.

Edwin K. Niles · Answer

If title was held as joint tenants, no probate is necessary, just a simple affidavit of death of joint tenant.  The surviving joint tenant should make the payments or the house will be foreclose upon.  It is highly unlikely that there is any personal responsibility for the loan above and beyond the loss of the property.

Jayne Sebby · Answer

The loan would become the responsibility of the surviving spouse.

Christine James · Answer

If there is no will or trust and the asset is community property, the house will likely pass to the surviving spouse.  It ultimately will depend on how title is held.  The surviving spouse will be responsible for the mortgage on the home.  The mortgage is secured by the property not the person.

Nathan Wagner · Answer

If the deed says the couple owns the house as "tenants by the entirety", then it would pass to the surviving spouse without going through probate. The surviving spouse would typically be responsible for the mortgage loan, but the loan would not be "accelerated". In other words, the surviving spouse would have to continue making payments, but the entire loan balance would not become due all at once.

Neil Lehto · Answer

As co-signers of the mortgage loan, both the surviving spouse, who inherits the decedents interest in the house automatically on death as tenant by the entirety, both are responsible. If the loan is not in default, however, the lender has no claim for the unpaid balance against the estate. Both the loan and the house pass directly to the surviving spouse.

David Leon · Answer

The living borrower is still responsible for the loan, unless the deceased borrower had mortgage protection insurance. The community property interest is likely a probate asset.

Thomas Phipps · Answer

The creditor can pursue the surviving spouse and/or the decedent spouse's estate.

Victor Waid · Answer

The surviving spouse is the responsible person to pay the remaining balance of the loan, and  a short probate may need to be conducted to put the title into your name, only.

Erven Nelson · Answer

Both spouses are liable to pay the loan while living, and the death should not affect that.  The lender could look to both the surviving spouse and the estate for payment.  Ownership of the house is a different question, and does not affect the lender's rights.

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Is the surviving spouse or the estate responsible for a co-borrowed mortgage loan if one of the borrowers dies?

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