CLEVELAND -- A local woman contacted NewsChannel5 when she found out that she'd have to make the lease payments on her late husband's car.

It turned out that there was a legal remedy. But NewsChannel5's Adam Shapiro reported that a kind car deader stepped in and took care of everything first.

Pat Pavlovitch is selling off a lot of the stuff she owns, including her house. Her husband, Dan, died a few weeks ago, and Pavlovitch needs cash fast -- in part, to make the final four payments on her husband's 1996 Lexus.

He leased it four years ago. But it's a car that Pavlovitch never drove and does not want.

She asked the Bank of America, which financed the lease, to take the car back. It refused.

"Because they told us if I don't pay it when I sell the house, they'll take their cut," Pavlovitch said.

So Pavlovitch figured that she was stuck with a bill that she couldn't afford. The monthly payment is almost half her Social Security check.

But Motorcars Toyota in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, from where her husband leased the car, decided to help her out.

They took the car back Thursday and paid off the Bank of America.

"You're obligated to the end of the lease," sales manager Thom Henreta said. "We can assist in getting a customer out of a lease by trading in the car early and putting them in a new deal, but these circumstances are unusual."

But attorney Linda Beebe said that the dealership's generous offer might have been unnecessary.

Pavlovitch's name is on the deed to the house, but not on the lease for the car. It's called a joint survivor deed, and Beebe said that it would have prevented the Bank of America from trying to get the cash from Pavlovitch when she sold the house.

"It's hers, she's not a party to the contract and she is not liable on this contract," Beebe said.

Pavlovitch is thankful that Motorcars Toyota helped her out. But now she knows that she could have saved herself a lot of grief next calling a lawyer first.

Lawyers said that you can protect your assets by making sure things like your house or investments pass directly to your wife or husband if you should die.

The key is to avoid probate court, and many lawyers can help you set those up legally.