Deaths without a will-estate can't pay off creditors

Calif. My brother passed away suddenly without a will in place. I am the beneficiary on his life insurance policy, so am taking on the roll of personal representative. My brother's "estate" is not going to cover all of his debt. How do I go about notifying his creditors that there isn't any money to pay them with ? I must handle this without probate-there isn't any money for that either. It will take all that is in his checking account and also the proceeds from the sale of his vehicle to cover the costs associated with his death. Help !What is the name of your state?

Buy a half hour of a probate attorney's time. It may turn out that you will be able to keep the insurance proceeds, but not be liable for the debts. The advice may include doing nothing about his assets.

If your the beneficiary of his LI policy it has nothing to do with his debts or estate. It is yours, period.

Technically you don't have to do anything if you don't file probate. Probate requires notice in a classified ad so that creditors can notify the estate if they want to be paid.

The creditors will do what they usually do when no one pays--write it off as bad debt. In other words, you don't have to worry about the outstanding amouts. If anyone contacts you just inform them that there is no estate and it is worth nothing.