Boston, GA Estate Planning Law Firms & Lawyers

The only people who have access to an account after death are persons named on the account (POD beneficiary/joint tenant/ co-owner) and persons who have been appointed to serve as personal representatives of an estate. Unless you meet those criteria, you would not have access.

Please accept my condolences on the loss of your father and the imminent passing of your stepmother. As for your question, your father's Will may still provide for the property that your stepmother was to receive to pass to her even if she passes away before the Will is probated, but you have to read the actual Will to determine exactly what should happen. In many cases, a Will contains a requirement that a beneficiary survive the person who wrote the Will by a minimum period of time in order to become entitled to receive the benefits that the Will provides for that beneficiary. For example, our standard Will form generally requires that a person's spouse survive them by at least 60 days in order to receive benefits under the Will. This is designed in part to avoid a situation where assets pass from one person's estate to a deceased beneficiary's estate. If your father's Will contains that kind of provision, and if your stepmother actually ends up passing away before she meets the minimum survival period, then the property would normally be distributed under your father's Will as if your stepmother died before your father. However, if your father's Will provides for a minimum survival period and your stepmother has already lived at least that long, then the bequest provided by your father's Will for her will likely end up distributed as provided by the Will. This may mean that property is distributed to her estate, if it was to be an outright distribution. However, if your father's Will provided for property to pass to a trust for your stepmother, rather than outright, then the trust will likely end up distributed in whatever manner it was to be distributed at your stepmother's death. To summarize, what your father's Will says happens is what will happen. Find an attorney who deals with probate matters in the state where your father lived when he died, and have that attorney review the Will and help you with the probate. If your stepmother is capable of signing a consent to probate, you may also want to have her do that before she passes away, as otherwise you may not be able to probate your father's Will without the consent of the Executor or Administrator of your stepmother's estate. Best wishes to you.