I'm currently trying to find a local attorney to help me through this, not having much luck yet.
My dad just passed, and did not have a will (not sure it would have even mattered) It was fairly unexpected. After the Drs. said there was nothing else they could do, he asked me if I would take care of his affairs.
As I am now sorting through any of his paperwork I was able to find, it is clear that he does not have hardly any assets. Small balances in checking and savings. That's it. Some furniture in his apartment. He has a bunch of credit card debt and a loan on a car that is probably worth what is owed. At least 4 years left on the loan.
The only attorney that has returned my calls so far basically said he wasn't interested in taking the case,  but not to open an estate or become the administrator. Said to let the car get repo'd and to reimburse from his bank account what I pay for his funeral expenses once I get the final receipt.
Just wondered if anyone had any insight, I'll be stewing on this all weekend. The funeral is Monday so I don't see much happening with an attorney then either.
 In Pennsylvania by the way.
Thanks

If it were me I would follow the Attorney's advice. Your Dad gave you permission to settle things. Pay for any final arrangements from his cash assets. Any personal property you can dispose of as you see fit. I would get copies of his death certificate and mail to his creditors. I would notify the lien holder of where the car is located.

I'm in much the same boat in Florida. It took me a month and a half to get to the same point though, because he sold his house to go into a nursing home for his last few months and that money ended up in his checking account, which had a co-owner on it to all our surprise.  So suddenly none of that money is in his estate...can't do much with $628, (4) $100 EE savings bonds and an uncashed check for $416 from an insurance company.

I spent an hour with an attorney, and pretty much ended up with the same conclusion.  Dad had a will, though, with only my sister and I named as beneficiaries, and the attorney said he wouldn't file the will, but said i might ought to since he's a lawyer (so he could defend his actions without having to hire an attorney) and I'm more than interested in covering my ass. I'll just be filling out a form for dissolution due to no estate.

But I feel ya, it's quite a strange world to be wading through with nobody to guide you along. The attorney's attitude helped me the most...kind of comforting that he mostly conveyed that I can't really screw it up and nobody will come looking for me if I do.

Are you the only heir?

If there is anything you want in the apartment make sure that you have secured it before the end of the month, assuming rent is current thru 11/30.  If the landlord isn't collecting rent he'll move quickly to secure the apartment to rent out to someone else.

I would call the lender/seller of the vehicle, they might be willing to take the car back directly from you instead of having it repo'ed for the balance on the note as an even-up transaction even if the loan is upside-down if there's no money in the estate, just to mitigate their loss.

Did your dad designate a beneficiary/pay on death for the bank accounts?  If not you may have to open an estate to get that money, assuming it's worth the trouble.

CC companies will likely be SOL, unsecured debtors are way down the list of who gets paid from an estate.  Usually funeral expenses are first, followed by secured debts (e.g. mortgage & car loan), then medical bills.

His debts are no one else’s obligations.

Actually PA does have a "filial debt" law for certain debts.  Since OP already spoke with an attorney I'll assume they're a non-issue.

Sorry to hear of your Dad's passing.

Well, we are still trying to sort out the proper way to go about settling all of his affairs. The attorneys I have spoken with all have said not to bother opening an estate since there is more debt than assets. They didn't seem to want to be bothered with the matter due to the $ amount we are talking about here.
Some of the remaining questions are what to do about the cash left in his bank acct., a final paycheck, and the refund of the security deposit from his apartment. Since there is no estate, his employer cannot write out the check to him directly, so just wants to send the final paycheck addressed to either me or my sister. Same with the security deposit. I am of the opinion that its probably not the legally correct way to go, as we would technically have no right to any of this. My sister thinks that there is a $3500 family exemption that might allow for this, but I think that is only for when the children live in the same household.
I might be making a mountain out of a mole hill over this, but it seems to me like there is always a trail with $ and it is not worth it to me to potentially open up a can of worms down the road either with creditors or taxes.
My thought was to just let it all go to the state, and at some point in the future it would either be claimed by creditors (who would have a right to it), or it would eventually be able to be claimed by family.
The only other legal way to touch anything in his bank acct. would be to take the death cert. and the funeral bill to the bank. There is not enough there to cover the entire cost of the funeral, and since he passed from complications of covid, FEMA will reimburse for the whole thing anyways.

Grandfather died with $250k ( stroke and Coma) in hospital bills.  Parents paid for the burial and didn’t get reimbursed. No sense filing for the estate since there wasn’t anything left.

One option is to file the probate in order to get the letters of administration, which will allow you access to his accounts and pay bills,etc.  Then never complete the probate.  I’d see if you can get an attorney to draft the initial docs and walk you through the filing/publishing/first hearing process, but you file pro se - under your name, not the attorneys.  This should save you a lot of money.  When I practiced, I did this for people in your situation.

some states dont allow pro se probate filings by non-lawyers.