Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

My brother died in a motorcycle accident this year. He had no will, no life insurance, was in debt with the IRS, state tax board as well as other credit card and other consumer debt. He was renting a home with no other real property. A check was sent to his estate as a settlement on his totaled motorcycle, we sold his household stuff and other personal effects at an estate sale, which did not garner much. He was not married but has an adult child living out of state. I want to pay the coroner�s transport bill (that was sent to my mother) and the hospital emergency bills but I cannot do anything until I set up an estate bank account. I know that family is not required to pay off the debts but there is a little bit of money from the settlement that I�d like to help to pay off my brother�s debt. I sent letters and death certificates to all of his creditors to inform them of the current situation.

1) What do I need to do to settle his estate financially, knowing that the settlement money will not begin to cover the debt owed to various creditors?

2) In what order do the creditors get paid, knowing that the federal and state tax debts are first in line?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

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