Legal Question in Banking Law in Pennsylvania

If he doesn't have a Will, in order to get Letters of Administration they ahve to have you sign what is called a renunciation. If their names are on the bank accounts jointly, they can access the funds in the bank accounts since those funds are not part of the Estate. Similarly, anything that was placed in joint names with right of survivorship will not be in the estate nor will proceeds paid by life insurance. It sounds to me like the situation is one where there was at least one joint account and the houses and stocks and bonds haven't been liquidated as yet. To be sure, you may want to go down to the City-County Building and check with the Register of Wills to see if Letters of Administration have been granted and who they were granted to.