The insurance money lawfully goes to the named beneficiaries. Ditto the IRA, if he named someone beneficiary. Did he have a POD beneficary on the CDs? If not they are part of his estate.
Any bills he has are first paid out of HIS assets, such as the CDs and equity in the house.
His assets go to the beneficiaries named in his Will, if any, and if not to his heirs at law. (I assume he had no wife and you and your brother are the only 2 heirs.)
If you and your brother want to do what is usually the honorable thing, and split everything from him 50-50, then you can total up all the value.
The IRA is all taxable money when the money is taken out and thus the dollars in it are not worth 100 cents. BUT in some cases a beneficiary can keep it and hold the money in a pre-taxed status. As for the house, figure out the value of the property with some appraisals, less the mortgage and typical real estate broker commssions, say 5%, and have that as one element. Folks often fight over fair value.
You guys really should have some local professional help on this.
