Q: My adult daughter died suddenly without a will in PA. She was disabled, owned nothing & only has a bank account.
How do I proceed to obtain the money in the bank account? It's under $2000.
A: Unfortunately, if your name is not on the account, you will have to open an estate, and, even more unfortunately, it will likely cost you more than $2,000.00, even under the “small estate” procedures.
A: Assuming that your daughter had no Will, was not married and had no children, as the surviving parent you should be able to go to bank with a copy of death certificate and proof that the funeral has been paid for and the bank should then be willing to give you the money since it is less than $10,000. Most banks are willing to do this. Some of the larger national and regional banks are more difficult to deal with on these small accounts.
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