Probate

My father died Jan '09 with a will, appointing me executrix and leaving everything to my sister and me evenly split. Unfortunately, the will was hand written w/ no witnesses and no notarization. So the clerk of the court declared the will invalid, but said it didnt matter because my sister and I were heirs-at- law by Virginia state law anyway(Our mother passed away ten years ago). He had a car loan and outstanding debts on several credit cards. My husband and I took care of the car loan because we did not want the car to be repossessed, but he also had credit cards with outstanding balances of $14,000, $2500 and $490, plus a few other smaller ones. None of the credit cards had credit card insurance on them. Are we liable for those debts? He does have a house which we just recently put on the market, but we have no idea how much we will get for it or when it will sell. Would really appreciate some guidance on whether or not we are legally liable for the outstanding debts and if we have to pay them off from the proceeds of the sale of the house.

My father left a will and left all his belongings to me and my husband. He also left behind a lot of unsecured debt. We want to try and keep his house, as we would like to move into his house, but would like to keep this matter out of probate court. Would an affidavit of heirship work for the transferring of the deed? He owes a mortgage on the property also, but we are fully willing to pay this off first. What papers do we need to file?

I was told at a Financial Planning Seminar that I could include a certain statement in my Last Will and Testament that would avoid my estate from going through probate court. What is that statement?

My husband died April 1, 2009. We had wills and powers of attorney done in Mississippi 4 years ago. We have 2 homes with mortgages and both our names are on these. His name is not on any other property or investments. Do I have to go through probate, file, or present the will in court? The combined worth of both homes is approximately 300,000 with 150,000 mortages.

My grandfather passed away 6 weeks ago and my dad is estranged from his step-mother. My dad was not able to go to the funeral which was in another State. My dad knows he was in the Will but nobody has contacted him yet. What can he do. He will not call his step-mother and does not know my grandfather's attorney's name.