China Spring, TX Estate Planning Law Firms & Lawyers

You are confused or have been misinformed. A Power of Attorney is only used for a living person. Once a person has died, any Power of Attorney terminates upon death. At this point, if there is an estate, you need to be named Personal Representative of the estate. That requires probate proceedings. It is a highly technical process and should not be attempted without the assistance of an attorney.

You both should do your own living trust, if you each gave assets to put into the trust, as you are not married. If you were married, you could do a marital trust. Trust are more flexible than wills as to the future changes that occur in your life.

If you provide the bank with a certified copy of your letter of office that should be sufficient to gain access to any bank account held in your husband's name. If the bank account was a joint account the account would not be in your husband's estate. It would be owned by the surviving joint tenant. The death certificate would give them authority to turn the account over to the surviving joint tenant. As the executrix you can require the bank to provide you with information on all of his accounts, including the title on all of his accounts.