Death very recent. Brother was single with no children. We have no other siblings alive. Have not hired attorney for probate yet and will have to use credit to do so. Home will need repair before I can sell. Only choice will be to get home in my name and try to arrange an equity loan to use for repair. Can I notify credit card companies before probate occurs to avoid late fees, interest, etc. and even making payments? Will I have to sell home in order to pay credit card debt?
You're not responsible for the CC unless you were a cosigner. You can send them a copy of the death certificate. They'll close the account(s) and will probably credit any interest charged after death. They'll probably send a letter asking for who will handle his affairs. If there is a probate, they'll probably make a claim against the estate
On caveat, if the house goes through probate, which it probably will, it will be listed as an asset and would probably need to be sold to pay debts.
Regarding the house, get an appraisal from a licensed appraiser, then sell he house "as is". Trying to fix it up can be very time consuming and costly. Tradesmen want to be paid when the work is done.
I sold my parents house "as is" as my parents had done very little updating in the 35 years they had owned the house. Worked out great, and I didn't have any headaches or time crunching like if I had to do any repairs or major updating.
Contact the credit card companies and see if you can work out a payment plan where so much is paid each month.