QUESTION
question about california small estate affidavit
Asked on Aug 18th, 2014 on Estate Litigation - California
More details to this question:
my brother died in california, and has very little assets. he has a car worth $10-15000. he is assumed to have more debt then the car is worth. the assume debt would be in taxes. If taxes owed is higher, can we just walk away from the car and not take care of any paperwork? would there be a fine to us? I really don't want the hassle of court ect. is there an easy way to do this?
1 ANSWER
I am sorry for your loss. You are technically liable up to the extent you receive assets. So if you get the car (by California DMV transfer without probate forms) then you could, in theory, be liable for the taxes. However, I would think it's not likely the creditors, or taxing authorities, will come after you. That is just a guess and hard to know for sure without knowing all the details. Probate should not be required though. Or you can park the car and walk away. If you receive nothing then you can safely do nothing, in my opinion. Good luck. -John
Answered on Aug 19th, 2014 at 7:31 AM