Creditor Claim Against Unopened Succession

[tiffanyh]

A judgment creditor files a formal proof of claim in the mortgage records since no succession has been opened for judgment debtor who is recently deceased. The decedent may not even own immovable property in the state. What else can be done at this point to collect on the judgment?

[Lex]

Sometimes the motivation in filing a proof of claim in the mortgage records is to put third parties on notice that a claim exists against the deceased’s estate. That notice could be general in nature, not necessarily just applicable to real estate. The notice can include a request that the Clerk of Court provide notification in the event a succession is opened.

Any “interested party” can open a succession -and that includes creditors. Sometimes a creditor may doubt that the deceased has enough assets to justify the creditor going to the expense of opening the succession, so they will go the claim route.

[Author]

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