My mother had several credit cards issued with me as a signatory on the account. Although she died two years ago, I have used the cards issued in my name to keep the account active - about three times a year. Any charges are paid immediately so they maintain a zero balance.
My own accounts satisfy any credit needs, but I have kept them for an emergency "just in case" reason. Should I close them and would that action impact my own credit rating?
Do you have enough credit cards in your own name only? Was this card issued to your mom and you co-signed for it? Or was it issued to you and your mom co-signed? Are you just an authorized user of a card issued only to her?
Being an authorized user of a card isn't as important to your credit rating as having a card issued to you based on your own credit. If you are only an authorized user, I am not sure you should still be using the cards. Technically, authorized users have no responsibility to pay the balance due. The person to whom the card was issued is the only one they can sue for payment. I think using credit cards that were issued to a person who is deceased might be considered fraud.
I see no reason to have more than two major credit cards going. Use one for gas the other for everything else. I do have a couple of store CC's because these are my two favorite stores and I get huge discounts with them.