Insurance beneficiary question

Kind of a weird question but my dad passed away two years ago and last week I received a letter and paperwork from RiverSource Insurance addresses to his “heir(s).” To be honest the whole family was estranged from him for awhile and I really don’t know what was going on in his life before he died.

Anyway, the paperwork includes an attestation that I am the rightful sole beneficiary of the policy, which technically I am not, my mom is, but she refuses to even look at it. She thinks it’s a scam trying to find someone to pin his debts on. My siblings agree that it’s sus and also won’t sign the form. My questions are:

Could identifying myself as his next of kin through this life insurance policy result in debt collectors coming after me for his unpaid debts?

If I claim on the form I’m the sole beneficiary even though I’m not could that trigger something like I’m committing fraud even though if there is money I’d obviously share it with my family?

submitted by /u/jerrychorizo
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