Hello, I have been a poster on this site for a while but created this account for self-doxx reasons. I would be happy to post under my regular account if other users think that would be safe. I’m going out on a limb posting this because legal advice is expensive and I am a working class college student in CA, USA, and you know how that goes. In short, my parent died a few months ago, without a will or a spouse, they had a small estate, and I need good advice on how to deal with their credit card debts. I understand that, as their child, I am under no obligation to pay them, but I am worried the creditors will come for a chunk of the estate if I try to take possession of my parent’s bank accounts. It seems like it might be a can of worms.
Side note, I have not canceled their credit cards or really done anything with their finances yet. No doubt, interest and late fees are accruing, so I should probably deal with this sooner rather than later.
My parent did not make much money in their life or own much, but they did manage to buy a house a few years ago in a rural county of California. They paid the mortgage and all their other bills with their Social Security checks, their only source of income. I have one sibling, who is trusting me to act as the representative of the estate. Well, the problem is we’re both basically clueless on this stuff, having practically no financial or legal education. So I’m appealing to Hexbear to give me some advice on how to handle the banks.
Since I am generally disgusted with the institution of landlording, I do not want to rent out the house (probably infeasible anyway), I want to sell it as soon as possible. California considers our parent’s estate to be a small estate, meaning there is no “full” probate process, just hopefully one court date and creditors do not have to be notified, to my current understanding. But my worry is that, if I try to take possession of our parent’s bank accounts (which, I believe, contain a few hundred dollars tops, because our parent was behind on several bills and really struggling financially for a long time) the banks will try to claw back what they owed on their credit cards, taking a significant chunk out of the equity, which I am somewhat counting on to help me finish my degree. I am well on the way to running out my financial aid, so this is pivotal for me.
I have yet to gain access to my parent’s online accounts, and ultimately might not be able to (I have yet to find any login info to their bank portal, main email account, etc.). I am still working on clearing out their house. It’s a miserable process between the ass weather and having to drive several hours each way from where I live, while still trying to attend classes and work my jobs part time, and the bills keep piling up. So, I have yet to address the credit card issue; I have not even called them up to cancel the cards yet.
Where should I go from here? How should I deal with the banks in a way that doesn’t end up with the vampires trying to suck us dry/us getting fucked over?
EDIT: Gonna shamelessly ask everyone to upbear this post even if you don't have answers/advice so hopefully someone who knows can see it. Thank you!! —Follow up: Thank you everyone who boosted this post, now I'm a little embarrassed that it got promoted to the front page but I guess that's literally what I asked for. I will probably follow StellarTabi's advice and delete it soon, repost elsewhere. Thank you everyone who has weighed in on my questions.
EDIT: Probably worth mentioning that my parent caught COVID at least once and I believe their death was partly due to that. The condition they died of was associated with post-infection risk factors of COVID. In my opinion, it was a social murder and I now have a permanent grudge against the political establishment and the system that did this to us.
My condolences.
I've recently experienced a similar circumstance. Parent passed with no written will and no records of financial accounts.
My family had to piece everything together from memory and what little paperwork they left us.
In order to legally get money out of your parent's bank accounts you will need to contact the banks and inform them of your parents passing. You will probably need to present a death certificate (have copies). Once the banks know that your parent is deceased, the bank can distribute the remainders of your parents balance to the account beneficiaries. Hopefully your parent listed you as the beneficiary.
If there are no beneficiaries for your parents bank accounts, the bank will tell you that you'll need to jump through some additional hoops. You will probably need to get and fill out a AFFIDAVIT FOR COLLECTION OF PERSONAL PROPERTY (or equivalent for your state).
Also, you didn't mention whether your parent left a retirement account or 401k behind. To receive the balance of any retirement account you'll need to contact the institution that manages their retirement account, inform them of your parents passing, and request to file a beneficiary claim (again, it will be easier if you are a beneficiary on their retirement account).
What I've described above is the legitimate way of getting control over your parents finances. You could illegally drain their accounts if youve got their bank account username and password. This is faster but uh this will probably raise some red flags at the bank.
Thank you for your input! I was definitely hoping someone else had gone through something like this before and could weigh in on how to deal with it.
I do have the affidavit form in hand and certified copies of the death certificate; I'm just afraid to go down there because I don't know what will happen after that.
As far as retirement accounts, life insurance, etc., my searches through their documents have not turned up anything yet.
I am following people's advice and looking up legal help through the state/county and the university. As luck would have it, they died right before the holiday season (:agony-shivering:) so the free services were unavailable when I tried this the first time, but it makes sense to try again. I have already filed for succession and have an upcoming court date but still have all these questions floating around unanswered in the background. I'm following the advice of the thread and looking for pro bono legal advice.
This stuff is really time consuming, unfortunately I went through something similar recently too. My condolences. I'll follow up here since my experience was largely the same as the previous poster.
Was your parent ever employed? If so, their employer probably had info on their life insurance, retirement etc. I had to go through them to get that. Even if they weren't currently employed, you could try contacting the most recent job they had even if it was years ago.
Also try searching, "your county" self help legal services, should be provided by your county court system. I was able to set a phone appointment and talk to someone and get advice on what to fill out and do.