Father passed away. What happens to the house?

I didn't read it all, but believe I got the gist.

First you need to speak to an estate attorney.

These laws are dictated by your State.

In my State, in the absence of a will or spouse, real property cannot be inherited and becomes the property of the State...this is why everyone should have a will.

If that's not the case in your State, and you're all in agreement that the house should be given to your brothers, they still have to pay the mortgage on it to keep it. Otherwise, the house will be foreclosed upon by the lender.

Note that debt does not dissipate in death...the estate is bound to remedy it by all means before there is anything left to inherit.

I have been all through this in 2006, so I know the laws in my State all too well. I also know the headache of putting it off or not having a really good attorney handle it for you. His personal taxes must be paid by the end of this year or the estate will accrue enormous fines and penalties...death is not an acceptable excuse to the IRS! The estate taxes also need to be resolved as quickly as possible, or there are very steep penalties and costs. Until you have the shorts and a death certificate, you're wasting your time to notify any creditors...you're also risking loss until you know what the laws are in your State for property without a will.

Talk to an attorney. Your fathers wishes mean absolutely nothing if he does not have a will that expresses it in writing.

Without a will, the courts will order the assets divided by state law.

Generically, here is what happens when someone dies without a will:

The next of kin file to be the executor of the estate with some estimate of what they think the estate is worth (all the assets less all the bills). The court (Probate Court in the county in which the person lived, usually) appoints someone to be the Executor.

Usually, this is the person closest in legal terms: wife, child...brother, etc.

The executor is given both the legal authority and the LIABILITY to handle the estate according to state law (or the will & state law, if there is a will).

The executor uses the assets of the estate to pay all the bills. Whatever is left over is divided by state law -- with only children living, that is usually equal shares to each.

In the case of the house, if no one can or will keep up the mortgage payment after death, the house must be sold -- to pay off the mortgage -- and any cash will be divided up among the heirs.

If someone will continue paying the mortage, the house is usually put into a trust with all the heirs getting an equal share of the trust. When (if) the house is sold, the trust is disolved and the owners of the trust get equal shares of the proceeds.

Since there was no will, the estate will go to probate, and any assets will be sold or liquidated to cover outstanding debts (the mortgage, credit cards, other loans, and any liens on the house aside from the mortgage).

Mortgages are normally not assumable (what you are referring to by "transferring the mortgage to someone else")

The mortgage does not go back to the lender with "no owner" because the heirs of the deceased now own what is left of the estate after paying off creditors.

However, if there is a small balance owing on the mortgage, any siblings who want to keep the house could try to get a mortgage in their names to pay off the mortgage to the current lender.

If he had enough savings to pay off the mortgage, then that would be the best course of action.

It is nice that you and your sister want to give the house to your brothers. Legally they would owe you the monetary value of your share of the house.

Say there are 4 siblings, each would be entitled to 1/4 of the value remaining after paying off any outstanding debts.

But if you don't care about that, wait and see if the siblings who are interested are able to afford to keep the house.

Even if you have to sell the house, the improvements your brothers have made will make it worth more, so you will realize more from the sale.

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Simple.

Estate must first satisfy all debt. IF there are not enough assets to so that, the house must be sold and the proceedes after debt divided.

Even if there ARE enough assets, all the heirs and executor must sit down and agree as to how the estate will split out. Obviously, if there are 20K in mortgages and 20K in cash, and the cash pays off the mortgage, you've just acquired a share of the value of the house no matter what the intent is in most cases.

Lawyer will be in a better position to advise

What if there was a handwritten will with other writings from other people on it and no mention of the house or land and she is on a reverse mortgage?

You will need to go to probate court and let the judge decide who legally owns the house. Since your father died "intestate" (without a will) the judge will make that decision.