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.