Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland

If you are named as the life insurance beneficiary, the insurance will be payable to you upon the submission of a death certificate. Your husband's bank account status has no bearing on this. If he had a valid Last Will & Testament, the person he named in the Will as his Personal Representative (Executor) should open an estate to probate any assets he owned in his own name. If he didn't have a will, you would be entitled to assume this role as his closest living relative. Any assets jointly owned by the two of you would automatically become yours without going through probate. Of course, if there were no significant assets in his name alone, you probably won't need to even open an estate. If his sister got him to put her name on his bank account so near his death, this would probably be considered a "convenience account", and the account should belong to the estate. So if you're concerned about her absconding with the funds and they are significant, you should probably act right away to open an estate to protect that. See an experienced estates attorney for further advice and assistance.