If Dad Dies and he created bunch of stuff that needs to be paid?

[quietGuy13]

My father is old now. He still strong and works in labor but i don't nkow how much that will last. Anyways, he has made all this investments and stuff in American and in another country where he came from... stuff that he has to pay or take care of and deal with.

 

Example:

-luxurious 1 truck, 1 luxurious expensive car that was like 50,000 and he has to pay like 500 a month.

-3 houses in that other country(he built slowly and spent a loot of money) and has truck overthere too..his relatives take care of his stuff and live there now)

-some real estate apartment complex in america

-etc etc but those are the main things.

 

If he suddenly dies or gets sick, I have no use for houses in that other country. And i doubt my mother would like to be there alone.

 

I don't speak that country's language well and i'm not a business men so even i wouldn't know how to get rid of those houses or sell them.

 

This is making me depressed. i really don't know what to do.

 

That's what sucks about having immigrant parents. they do all this international stuff and they leave it to you when they die.

[carhill]

You/she will hire a probate attorney and s/he will settle your dad's estate in accordance with his will, or, if he dies intestate, in accordance with the laws of the relevant jurisdictions.

 

In my case, my father set up a trust so such matters could be easily handled upon his, and later, my mother's death. With your asset mix, I likely would have needed help with the international assets, but it's still pretty straightforward.

 

Wrt to the international assets, an easy solution would be to will them to the people who are taking care of them for him. How any related debts are resolved can be addressed in the will.

 

My mother died around nine months ago, so I recently dealt with all this stuff. It can seem overwhelming but, when one breaks it down into bite-sized bits and does a little each day, it's no big deal.

 

Your mother and father should really see an estate planning lawyer and take care of this stuff. They definitely have an estate worthy of professional planning. IIRC, my dad spent about 2% of the estate's value (at the time) to get legal planning help. Great investment, IMO.

[quankanne]

also get him to sit down with you so you can get it all on paper – creditors, property, insurance policies, EVERYTHING, so you can start chasing down information to hand off to an executor when the time comes. That's what my sister and I did when we were told Dad was dying; when he actually died later that year, my brother (executor of the estate) had everything in hand.

 

you might also ask him what he intends to do with the property back in the old country – if you've got people interested in buying, definitely see if you can set up some kind of seamless transition that kicks in upon his death that way you won't have any headaches at that point. And be sure to set up a plan B, in case you have to put that stuff on the market if your mom doesn't want to hang on to it.

 

as carhill suggests, an estate planning lawyer can be your best asset.

 

I know it's depressing, thinking of your dad dying and you being stuck cleaning up all messes, but you're ahead of the game thinking about it now, rather than after the fact. It'll make a huge difference, and I think, help you adjust to the idea that he's going to be gone some day.

 

hugs,

q

[carhill]

I'll echo this suggestion:

 

Gather up all relevant asset and debt records, tax returns, insurance policies, wills/trusts, etc. and store them in one safe place, making copies as necessary. As an example, relevant original records, wills and trust for my parent's estate were stored in a safety deposit box at a bank, with copies in their own files, their lawyer's office and in my files, since I was the successor/liquidating trustee. Having everything organized in one place came to be a critical factor to success with little stress.