My father left a mortgage and credit card debts when he passed away last year. There are three of us inheriting but we're not really sure how it works with the debts. Are we all equally responsible or does it depend on the share we get?
You've got some good points but there's one important thing to clear up! Yes, debts do get paid from the estate first, but "accepting an inheritance with inventory" is really THE key here - it limits your personal liability to what you'll actually inherit, period. Without it you could end up paying out of pocket if the estate doesn't have enough to cover everything! I really recommend it to you, especially with a mortgage that can be pretty heavy. A notary can explain how to do it and it's clearly not complicated to set up.
This is actually a really important thing because lots of people think you inherit debts proportionally to what you get, but that's not really how it works. Basically, the deceased's debts are paid from the estate before you get your share. That means creditors (the bank, credit card companies, etc.) come first and take their cut from the property and money your father left behind. If the estate isn't enough to cover everything, the creditors just lose the missing money - they can't come after you personally if you accept the inheritance normally.
That said, there's an important exception: you can refuse the inheritance completely, or accept it "with benefit of inventory." That second option is really something you need to know about. It means you inherit your share, but you only pay the debts up to the limit of what you receive - you're not at risk for anything beyond that. It's a bit more complicated administratively but it protects your other assets.
Honestly, you should really consult a notary or an inheritance lawyer. Every situation can have nuances (was there a will, how are the properties registered, etc.), and this isn't the thing where you want to mess up. A good notary can also explain how the mortgage works - often the house itself can cover a good chunk of the debt.
That's not quite accurate about what was said before. Debts get paid first from the estate before dividing what's left, so technically it's not pro rata based on your share of the inheritance - it's just that the whole amount shrinks and you each receive your share of what's left after. But watch out, you're not personally responsible beyond what the estate can pay, unless one of you accepted the inheritance without restriction (that's more complicated in that case). The other thing that changes everything is that a mortgage is usually secured by the property itself, so the bank can seize the house and get their money back that way, which affects the division afterward. You should really check with a notary how things look in your situation because depending on whether your father was married, whether there's life insurance, how much the estate is worth, it can make a huge difference to what you actually receive.
What the others forgot to mention is that you can accept the inheritance "with benefit of inventory" - it completely changes things. With that, you're only liable for the debts up to the value of the estate, so if the debts exceed the assets, you don't lose your own money. Without that protection, if you accept the inheritance normally, you become jointly and severally liable for the debts to the creditors. It's really important to check this quickly with a notary, because once you simply accept the inheritance, it's too late to back out.
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