When there is an executor of the estate is this person responsible for the home owner insurance on the house? My grandparents passed away and left their property divided between kids and their sister as the executor of the estate and she failed to pay the home owner insurance. Long story short before the will was executed the house caught on fire and this is when they found out there is no insurance on the home. Is she legally responsible for this. We live in SC.

Unless your particular state has a law to that effect there is no requirement that a home that's owned free and clear has to have insurance on it.

If the executor "failed to pay" the insurance, you might want to check into the rest of the estate to see if it's being managed responsibly.

First of all, it doesn't matter if "someone" was living in the house - when the house isn't "owner occupied" any longer, it no longer qualifies for a HOMEOWNERS policy.

Can the executor be held liable, for NOT securing the correct property insurance for the house? Maybe. Did they receive the cancellation notice on behalf of the property owner? Or did the policy cancel before grandpa died? Or did uncle take the cancellation notice and throw it away?

To be held liable, you'll have to prove that executor KNEW that the insurance cancelled, ON THEIR WATCH, and that they HAD time to replace coverage, and didn't.

How much would she actually be liable for? Up to the market value of the house, MINUS ALL LIENS, minus other creditors. If Grandad was mortgaged to the hilt, and owed Medicaid more than the house was worth, ie, if the estate is insolvent, then there's no actual loss to you - you wouldn't have inherited anything anyway, and it wouldn't have made sense to spend money from the estate, on insurance. So she wouldn't be liable, because there are no DAMAGES.

The other heirs can sue her. She is not required to maintain insurance on the property, but I would be pretty upset if I were one of the other heirs.

She may have not purchased the coverage because the premium would have jumped. If the house were vacant, a homeowners policy would no longer apply. Vacant property/liability policies are 3-4 times more expensive than a homeowners policy.

"Homeowners" insurance is only available for homes that are owned by a person who lives in the home. If the person living in the home was not the owner, then it would not have been possible to get "homeowners" insurance. Getting insurance of another type would have been a good idea, but it would not have been "homeowners" insurance.

Depends - if there is no legal requirement to have home owners insurance, then she probably had no legal requirement to renew the policy (usually, the only time there is a requirement for insurance is when the house is mortgaged and the lender requires the insurance). Your best bet is to check with a good estate lawyer to find out what SC probate requires in terms of protection of estate property.