Living abroad and lost (France, USA)

Like most on the forum I am totally lost.
My mom passed away 1 year ago without leaving a will.She lived and worked in the USA.
My sister and I have been living in france since we are kids so we do not know the American system.
Our mom owned a house in the states but had barely started paying off her mortgage.
When she passed away we found noone to help with the house issue and now we do not know what to do.
Her companion ,who stayed in the house until now wants to transfer title to us (the house was in our mom's sole name).Mortgage and taxes have been paid until now but he can no longer afford the house and neither can we (my sister and I do not work,we raise our children thus having no personnal income)
there is 142,000 dollar mortgage loan and the house is estimated at 150 000 dollars.There is a 8,000 dollars equity on it.
We do not even know what it means!
How do things work in the USA?
Can we refuse to inherit the house which we cannot afford?
Do we have to go through probate?
What are we liable for?

thank you for any help.I just cannot take the stress anymore after having lost my mom and my father (8 months before) and having to deal with succession questions here in France concerning my father.
Lost and desperate

Condolences on the loss of your parents so close together in time.

The man who lives in the home cannot transfer anything in her name unless his name is also on it. If his name is on the deed, he can transfer his interest only.

You can refuse inheritance, yes. You do not have to accept or take on any financial debt your mother had. Her debts are to be settled by her estate. If she died intestate (meaning she had no will or living trust), the state will, after a certain amount of time, step in, divvy up the assets/debts, and settle the estate themselves.

Equity means how much appreciation the property holds. Right now, you mother owes less on the mortgage than what the house appraises for, which is good. It's called good debt.

You don't have to go through probate if you do not wish to. If you wish to acquire anything that belonged to your mother, however, (sentimental items, for instance) it would be best to contact an attorney in the area your mother lived.

I hope this helps answer some of your questions. Good luck to you.

First of all thank you so much for your kind and clear answers to my many questions.
Concerning the debts that there might have been (medical bills,taxes...apart from the house) my sister and I sent money to her companion to pay all of them so there should not be any left.
We were beneficiary to her IRA and roth Ira which I efiled to the IRS and her companion took care of filing her taxes.
I have been begging her companion to move out of the house and let it go since the house and loan was only in her name(I bought and downloaded the documents from the internet county clerk of her city).
I did contact the mortgage company after my mom's passing but they would not give me any info on the situation.However,the title company seems ready to transfer title in our names through her companion and he seems to get all the info he needs!
Should we go ahead with that or just demand that the companion move out and let the state step in ?
Do we have to default on payment?
What happens then?
As of her belongings,we were able to get her companion to give her jewelry to our grandmother (since I cannot afford to travel to the states plus have had brain surgery),however,he has kept all her diplomas,her clothes,pictures...
How do we go about refusing to inherit the house?

I think her companion is having an affidavit of heirship established (he asked for our names,addresses as well as info concerning our father and our mom because they were not divorced).
Is this the right thing to do?

I have contacted several probate lawyers and the fees sometimes go up to 25 000 dollars because of the transatlantic situation.However,we did have a Power of Attorney established in the name of our uncle who lives in the USA,at the American Consulate in France and there is no other asset!
Unfortunatly he is not stepping in to help us out.

I just wish I could try to go through the grieving process without all this supplementary stress.
I miss them so much.
thank you again

Let's start with the companion claiming heirship. He cannot claim that, as he is not an heir. Your mother may have named him as a beneficiary, but he is not, and cannot be an heir, as he is not related to her in any way. You and your sister would be the heirs, along with any family members (sisters, brother, uncles, living mother/father). It's disturbing to me that the companion claims he is in the process of establishing an Affidavit of Heirship. The only people who can fill out Affidavit of Heirship forms are remaining family members.

It's highly irregular that her companion is able to get information from your mother's lender regarding her property but her children cannot. Do you know or trust the companion? Please heed my advice and do not give him any personal information.

The title company cannot transfer title to you or the companion or anyone else without the lender's knowledge and full approval. Title companies cannot arbitrarily do such a thing on their own.

Did your mother have/leave a will or a living trust? Or did she die intestate? (meaning neither existed) Before I can answer any further questions, I need that information.

In the meantime, please do not make any decisions and keep contact with the companion to a minimum, and do not give him any information that he asks for whatsoever.

Once again,thank you for your advice.
Unfortunatly,my mom died intestate.
Her IRA,roth IRA and her extended payplan had my sister and I named as beneficiaries but there is no clause about us being beneficiaries to the house in the contract.
However,I did find that it the house's contract had a deed of trust with the mortgage company.(found on the official county clerk site of her town)

Apparently the companion is establishing an Affidavit of Heirship for my sister and me.I know for sure he was not named benefeciary to anything.
Since he is living in our mom's home he has access to all the papers and info she left behind and it will not be difficult for him to know evertyhing.
We barely know the companion,since our mom was not divorced from our father and had only met this man 2 years prior to her passing and 4 years after moving to the states (she was an American citizen and worked there).

Here in France,you can refuse to inherit by going through a notary public.

I know I keep repeating myself,but thank you so much for any help or advice.

Her lack of divorce from your father changes everything. It's your father who should be taking care of the inheritance/ Affidavit of Heirship, and not the companion.

Depending on the State she resided in, she may have lived in a community property state, and as such, the property (house) would go to her legal husband.

If that is not the case, you don't have to really do anything to refuse inheritance of her property(home). Since she died intestate, there isn't an inheritance, as would be usual in the case of a will being present.

The house will not automatically become yours, and you do not have to accept the financial burden of someone else's debt. Since it is solely in her name (both mortgage and deed (otherwise called a Title), the bank can repossess it and begin foreclosure process.

A deed of trust requires three parties. The lender, the borrower, and an uninterested third party. She would have to have named somebody in this deed of trust. Do you know who that person is?

You're welcome for advice thus far.

Unfortunatly we lost our father 8 months before our mom's passing thus making us the only heirs.
Why in the world does her companion want to transfer title to our names?
Then the only thing to do seems to be nothing and just let things unravel by themselves?

I'm sorry. You mentioned that in your first posting, but when you mentioned your mother had not divorced your father, I got off track.

My guess regarding his eagerness to transfer title to your names is to 1. get out from under the bill if he's currently been paying it, and/or 2. he wishes to remain living in the home and feels that you will give him carte blanch to do so.

To reiterate, he has absolutely no authority to transfer real property to anyone. His name is not on the mortgage, deed, or any other legal document that might give him such authority.

That's right. If you don't want the property, do nothing. The state/and or the lender will quickly take over possession and it will be sold at auction. In the meantime, the companion will be evicted by one or the other (lender or state) filing for eviction in a court of law.

I will follow your advice and just let things follow its course.
I am worried that he will get the Affidavit of Heirship established since he is living in that house and all the necessary documents,that belonged to my mom,are at hand.
Is there a way to refuse this transfer if it done without our notice or consent?

To reiterate: He cannot even fill out the papers for Affidavit of Heirship. He is not a family member. He cannot fill them out for you and your sister to sign, as neither of you are available to sign for him, and it is not his place to take it upon himself to do such a thing on your behalf anyway.

You would have to appear before a Probate Court Judge and sign this document yourself. Since that is not going to happen, you are worrying needlessly.