Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Pennsylvania

I have no idea what Thailand law is. The rule in the United States generally is that if the account is jointly owned with another person then that person inherits the proceeds in the account at death. If there is no one else on the account, then the proceeds technically are to be part of the estate.

If the bank account was in another state, then you have to open an ancillary estate in that place in order to get the funds. Since this is in a foreign country, this would have to be done in that country. Unless your lawyer happens to be licensed in Thailand, she could not do anything about this. This would have been your responsibilty as executor, and you would have had to get a lawyer in Thailand.

The fact that the widow got a court order tells me there was some kind of legal proceeding. Was this in Thailand? Were you a part of it as you obviously knew about it? How much was in the account?

It may be that the lawyer did not think it justified the cost for you to get a lawyer in Thailand. I can't say why the estate lawyer did not discuss this with you. However, its not fair to either her or I to complain about her actions and ask me or another attorney here to second guess what she did when we don not have access to all the details.

I also don't know where your father lived at the time of his death. Most states have what is called an elective share in which the living spouse is guaranteed a certain amount of the estate proceeds if the will does not leave enough property to the spouse. In additon, most states allow a family exemption to the surviving spouse free of the claims of any creditors. Again, I don't know how what was in the estate to know what the wife would or would not be entitled to.

Since you have an attorney for the estate, you need to be directing this question to the attorney and you be asking the estate attorney about this.