Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

Condolences on your loss. No probate should be required, the procedure under Probate Code sections 13100, et seq., may be used to collect the balance of the bank account, but the death certificate alone will not be sufficient.

Mr. White is correct. You will need the death certificate, however, for the affidavit that is prepared under Probate Code section 13100.

I am sorry for your loss. The prior attorneys are both correct concerning procedures for small estates such as this one. However, please first check with the bank to see if your son named a beneficiary on the account. A named beneficiary is often included on the application when an account is opened. If that's the case, then the account is actually a "paid on death" account with the named beneficiary being entitled to the funds in that account. Financial institutions do not always contact the account beneficiaries when an account holder passes away, so be sure to ask. Since your son was unmarried and did not have children, you may be listed as his beneficiary. In that case, the death certificate should be sufficient.