I am sorry for your loss. I am sure that this is a difficult time for your family. Generally, our privacy rights are very durable, surviving even our death. So it is not inappropriate for the hospital to refuse to release medical records except to a court appointed fiduciary.
 
I am sure that if someone in the records department is telling you that they will release the files to a duly appointed Voluntary Administrator (used for a decedent who died without a will), then they will also release the files to a duly appointed Voluntary Executor as well (used for a decedent who died with a will). The Voluntary process is a much-streamlined process intended to allow for the efficient administration of very small estate. It is a very simple process, requiring only one form (along with an original death certificate and the original Will)be filed with the appropriate Probate Court. There are several significant limitations, however: the value of the probate assets (excluding one automobile) must be less than $15,000, there can be no real estate in the probate estate, the Voluntary cannot be filed for at least 30 days after the decedent's death, the named executor is competent, no petition to probate the Will has been filed, and the decedent had to be a MA resident. If the estate does not qualify, then it is not elegible to use the Voluntary process.
 
Ordinarily I shy away from encouraging non-lawyers from trying to probate an estate - it really can be a difficult process. But the voluntary approach really is pretty straight-forward. You may want to give it a try. You can always call for reinforcements if you feel that you are over your head.
 
Good luck.   Attorney Peter Bernardin