Q: my brother passed away with three or 4 vehicles and a bank account. how can I access this to pay for funeral expenses?
he was basically homeless living in his van or one of his cars. he owned two camero's Iroc-z (torn up inside but one runs one is registered in his name the other he never registered and I have no clue who he bought it from), a van (that some broke into and trashed, again not registered and no pink or bill of sale) and a pickup (which he loaned to someone and we do not know who, this one is also the same as the others.) He also had a bank account that he had his social security deposited into the balance is about 1600.00 How can i retain what is in his bank account and sell any other items that might be worth of value to pay for his funeral?
A: I am sorry for your loss. It sounds like a small estate case (under $150,000) and thus utilizing small estate affidavits is best. Unfortunately you don't get access to the bank or cars until 40 days after death. This all assumes you are not named as beneficiary/POD and/or co/joint owner on the bank accounts and/or cars and that he lived in California. The small estate limits and procedures are different in other states. Assuming you are next of kin I would sign the small estate affidavit 40 days after death, in front of a notary, and take to the bank. Some big banks have their own small estate forms so you might ask them. I have a link to a free small estate affidavit on my website at https://californiaprobate.info/free-resources/ and for the DMV they have a "transfer without probate" form on their website. Again, this is to be done 40 days after death by the next of kin assuming he had no will. I do hope this helps. Good luck. -John
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