<prompt> Human: Hello, my mother passed away this past weekend very suddenly. She was relatively young, and she had no will. This leaves my brother as the executor of the estate. There is no question about our cooperation in how her affairs should be handled. He is the oldest, and beyond that Im not expecting any hand outs, only that things are settled quickly and with ease. Just before she passed, I was helping to apply for medicaid and disability. There was about 5 weeks from the time she stopped working until her death. Does anyone know if she would still receive her disability for those 5 weeks? Also, I know a lot about medicaid through my job, but would they approve and cover her unpaid medical bills from before, even though she died before they approved the application? She had active insurance, but any secondary coverage would be very helpful. In the days after her death, my brother emptied her credit union account through the atm to cover some immediate fees. It was only abut 620.00. Today they called and told him to put the money back and that they would use it to pay off a credid card she had there. We assume the balance was less than the total of her account, but we do not yet know. This leads me to wonder whether he is obligated to honor the request they made, as I had believed that credit card debt doesnt have to be paid after someone dies. I do know debt on real property would remain. She had no vehicle, no mortgage on her home, and owed no property taxes. We plan to sell the house, and already have an interested buyer who had been interested for many years. My brother is meeting with a law firm to help him handle the estate next week. He asked that i handle having her death benefits from work as I was already working to have the disability processed. I believe he was the beneficiary, which will help him settle her estate easily. The funeral debt is about 4,500, and should be covered by the life insurance, or the sale of the home. Oh, she was unmarried, lived alone, and we have a younger sibling who has so far refused to do more than attend the funeral. Anything that I should be aware of regarding the death of a parent and dealing with finances?Edit: my brother put the funds back in the account. He took it under advice by an aunt to cover some of my moms expenses, but put it back after the credit union called him. I know a lot cant be done until we receive the death certificates. Hes the oldest and the beneficiary on the life insurance, so I would assume he will become the executor. Theres no car and no mortgage. The disability that was being processed wasnt social security, it was medical disability through her employer. I know medicaid in our state pays retroactively 3 months prior to approval. I dont know if it still pays out if someone dies while waiting for approval. I guess I just want things to be over faster than they can be. Im also afraid of overlooking anything.  <response>: Yes, credit card debt still exists after death.You, personally, dont have to pay her debts.But any assets she had at the time of her death her bank account, her house, etc MUST be used to pay her debts before they can be distributed to her heirs. Your brother was NOT allowed to just withdraw it and keep it. The life insurance goes to whoever the beneficiary was, bypassing the estate. It does not go towards debts. 