Hello - My mom died last year without a will. She was 88, I'm her only child, no spouse or surviving siblings. There have been no problems so far - she owned no property (was in a nursing home and rented prior to that). I paid her medical bills and funeral expenses with her life insurance which went to me (less than $10,000). She has money in a credit union - a savings account with my name on it for $2500, and two CD's without my name on them, one for $12500 and the other for $1900. The bank says I can't cash the CD's which are just coming due. They told me I must file through probate and be named executrix, etc. To complicate matters, I live in NH. I have no lawyer (never needed one), and would prefer not to pay one. I'm just looking to get this money to put towards my kid's college tuition in September. Any advice? Thanks in advance.
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Avoiding Probate
I suspect that it will really depend on what you mean when you say that the accounts had your name on them. In general (yes, I start a lot of my answers that way!), an account held in joint name will pass automatically to the surviving owner - without the need for probate. The same result will occur if the account is held "payable on death" to you. In both those cases your mom took the steps to indicate to the banks that she wanted the accounts to pass to you on her death. If your mom was the owner of the accounts in question and you had only "signature authority", then they will be probate assets. You may want to look at the bank statements to start. Is your name in the address anywhere? Of course the paperwork maintained by the bank is what will determine the actual ownership, but often you can tell just from the mailing address.
Based on the asset values you indicated, you will at worst only have to do a voluntary administration. That is a streamlined procedure for small estate - requiring only a simple one page form. My guess is that you will be able to address the situation without a lawyer. HOWEVER - if your mom was receiving MassHealth benefits, the state will seek to recover whatever probate assets your mom held at her passing (to offset the benefits provided during her life).
Peter Bernardin