Help with expenses of Mom’s sudden death

Hi everyone. As many know, I am a self-employed freelance artist and even though it's really hard for me to ask, I need help with my current situation. I was only able to touch on everything briefly and it is still hard for me to talk about but it’s time.

What happened?

My Mom, Judy, has always been a private person, so I'm not comfortable sharing every personal aspect. But she had been struggling with health issues and I was getting worried. I spoke with a mutual friend and trusted family members about my concerns. But on August 22nd, I genuinely had a gut feeling something was wrong that day. I texted my mom every day, every few hours, and around 7 pm I texted her with no response. Our mutual friend went to my mom's place and kept knocking on the door as my husband and I started driving over. I called my uncle in town and the landlords, all banging on the door, and there was no response. The landlords just had a big thing of keys but none of them worked to open the door. We called the cops; they took over an hour to arrive. Emotions were running high, there was a lot of panic and yelling.

While waiting outside the apartment I still had that hope, maybe she is just in the back and is sleeping or ignoring. The only way in was to ask a neighbor to drill the locks off. As soon as the loud drilling started with no response, I knew. I went back downstairs and a few moments later, my worst fear had come true. She had died suddenly, all alone in her apartment. This all happened around 9 pm, and she wasn't declared deceased by EMT until 10:32 pm. Then we were stuck waiting outside, in pure shock and grief, for the coroner to arrive; they did not come until 3 am. It's really hard for me to share what happened because the events of that night and seeing the state of her apartment the day after, has really traumatized me. Nothing can prepare you for something like this.

The Current Situation

My Mom was my best friend. We have always been incredibly close and losing her like this has not only caused me severe heartbreak but now financial stress as well. On top of the pain of losing my Mom, I only have the month of September to clear out the apartment or I'll have to keep paying rent on it. It's a 2-bedroom with an attic space, and even though she hid it well, I have now come to understand she was a hoarder. This has made sorting through everything incredibly time-consuming and challenging. I'm spending all my time there now and I have not been able to work. She has lived there for over 25 years, my stepdad (also deceased, 2015), lived there for over 30. So altogether, I am cleaning out 30+ years' worth of accumulated things between the both of them. I am her only child so everything is falling on me.

She was very low income on a budget, living off food stamps, a bi-weekly job ($300 a month), and a small pension. I always helped her as much as I could. She started charging things to her credit cards, which the creditors want paid back with what little estate she has. When I'm not at the apartment I'm calling up whatever credit card bill I can find to repeat the same story over and over to close the account. I'm not listed on anything, so I had to make an appointment with surrogate court. They are so backed up that I'm still waiting for my appointment which is not until mid-October. The only thing she had of any value was her car, which is 9 years old. Unfortunately, I still can't even do anything with the car because it's not in my name and I need to wait for my court appointment to even start that process. In the meantime, I have to pay $225 a month in parking for it in a garage because people were starting to complain about it being idle on her city street.

I just feel like I keep getting slammed in every way and there is nothing I can do about any of it. Between the funeral, a junk removal service, and various other costs, I have already completely burned through my savings. My current costs are already well over $7,000 and that's not even including my personal bills. I keep trying to work but after spending 6 hours in the apartment every day, I'm just so exhausted, physically, mentally, emotionally. I'm hoping to get into a better schedule soon but it will still take time to get back on my feet to what I used to be able to do. I'm trying my best to move forward and do what I can but it's just hard and, to put it simply, everything just sucks right now.

I could go on and on about how funny she was, the life of the party, a genuine person. She was so young and just turned 55 in July. She loved roses, starfish, and called her home the batcave. The feelings of what I've been experiencing go so much deeper than I can really articulate through quick words on here. Just finding a couple of small things she was going to give me for my birthday next month hit me hard. Going to bed every night without talking to her. My dog doing something silly that I would run and tell her about. Going somewhere and not being able to bring her something back. Our inside jokes no one else gets. Sharing fandom stuff with her. She truly was the person you would meet and think I've never met someone like this before. I lost my mom and my friend and I just want her back.

I really did not want it to come to this, I have always taken care of myself so it's hard for me to do. But the unfortunate truth for me is that I simply do need the help this time. I know it's a lot to ask, especially in these difficult times for everyone, but if you can spare anything it would be extremely appreciated. And most importantly, please, hug whoever is the closest person in your life, family, partner, friend.

Thank you.