My friend is the executor of a relative's estate. The now deceased relative of my friend left her home to her boyfriend. The home still carries a $25K mortgage and the estate owes about $23K to the nursing home where she died. The assets of the estate aren't enough to pay the bills. Who has the right to sell the house to pay off the debts, the boyfriend who inherited it or the executor? (If the boyfriend sells it, how can he be compelled to pay the medical bills?)

I am assuming that even though the house has a $25K mortgage balance, if it was sold there would be enough money to pay off the bills from the nursing home, right? If so, then the nursing home has the right to expect payment from the estate, and if the house is the only asset left (i.e. no savings account, checking account, retirement account, other investments, cars, furniture, jewelry, etc) that trumps the boyfriend getting the house. If the will was properly written it would provide direction to cover this, by including a clause that says "pay my bills first," and then only after bills are paid provides direction on how remaining assets are to be distributed to heirs. Regardless, the house is still part of the estate - it does not "belong" to the BF until the estate is probated, and that doesn't happen until all outstanding bills are taken care of. So it's the executor's job to sell the house, use the proceeds to settle outstanding bills, and distribute the remaining assets per the instruction of the will.

Yes, the probate court will most likely have the home sold and the money given out to the debtors. The person who it is willed to, would have to pay off the debts if he wants to keep the property. So it would never get deeded to him. And it all has to be done though probate court

Yes.

If the PR did this incorrectly, conveyed the house to the BF, and closed the estate, the BF can expect the nursing home to come knocking on "his" door.

Thank you all for your responses. I have heard that in NY, if real estate is left to someone in a will, that the property is automatically considered to be deeded over to the person who has inherited it at death of the original owner. So this new owner (the boyfriend) wants the executor to do all the work of selling the house, but there doesn't seem to be any way to make sure he will pay off the hospital bill. I mean, why should he? He can just take the proceeds and disappear. What will compel him to pay anything other than the outstanding mortgage? You can't inherit someone else's hospital debt, right?

Again, I thank you all for your assistance! I think my friend will need to hire a lawyer, but she doesn't have the money for that either...