<prompt> Human: My mother is very ill and will soon pass away. She is divorced and I am her only child.We have a joint checking account left over from my childhood. I have not used it in many years. I can only close this account, not remove my name from it. I have refrained from closing the account due to the inconvenience this will cause her. This account has less than two thousand dollars in it, maximum.She has substantial credit card debt, in excess of 40,000 on multiple cards that I know of. There might even be more.She is in poor health and has many medical bills. I am unsure of the amount.She has no assests and nothing of material value I want. She lives in an apartment by herself. She has listed me as the person to contact on her lease in the event of her death. The apartment manager has my name and number. I did not volunteer this information. To be clear, I am not a cosigner or on the lease.She claims there is a small life insurance policy of 20,000 with me as the sole beneficiary. She wants the money to be used to pay for her cremation. I do not have any of the paperwork involved with this policy.My questions:Am I in any way going to be responsible for her debts after her death? I am concerned because of the joint checking account. I will close the account immediately if the credit card companies, hospitals, or insurance companies will come after me.Am I going to be responsible for cleaning out her apartment or throwing her belongings away? She is a compulsive hoarder and I am not interested in cleaning up her filth yet another time. Can I safely ignore any calls or letters to take away her belongings? Am I legally required to remove her trash?How do I collect the life insurance policy? What are the first steps? Will any of her creditors come after this money if I try to collect it? Would I be better off simply ignoring it?Am I legally required, as her sole surviving family remember, to be responsible for the disposal of her remains? What will happen if I choose not to be involved?  <response>: You should seek the assistance of an estate attorney. 