<prompt> Human: My mother passed away earlier this year after a long battle with cancer. She left a couple of houses and about 300k to my brother and I in a trust. She was married but separated remarried after my brother and I were born and her husband had left her on his insurance since she had no insurance of her own. After she passed we started getting A LOT of doctor bills, that we mostly ignored. I just sort of assumed that since she died, she didnt have to pay them, and the debt would not pass to us. But I dont know, should we pay them? Even with the insurance, the bills were more than the total amount of money left to my brother and I. We would have to sell the houses to pay it all. What is normally done in this kind of situation? What is the right thing to do? Can they go after her widower? Can they come after us?  <response>: Im sorry to hear this. Losing a parent stinks and dealing with the aftermath is unfortunate. You will need to talk to a lawyer, but I can give you basics in just a couple sentences.Most bills of a decedent are not automatically extinguished by death. They become debts of the estate. The estate consists of any assets belonging to the decedent. Therefore, theoretically, the assets such as houses need to be sold and the proceeds given to creditors. Once the assets are gone, the debts are extinguished even if they were not paid in full.Generally, insurance proceeds are not part of the estate for purposes of paying debts of the estate. Everything I just said may not be exactly true in your circumstances, but it is how things usually function.Did your Mom have a will? If so, it should name an executor and there are steps the executor will have to take to have it probated. If she died without a will then a court will have to name an Adminstrator to close out the estate. There are default rules on who gets what, but if as you say, the debts exceed the assets, you just have to liquidate and pay the debts. Any exempt assets would be divided as set out in the will or as the law provides in the case of intestacy.It is definitely in your interests to talk to a lawyer who specializes in the area of trusts and estates. 