Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Pennsylvania

Asking if something is legal is not the question. Anything is legal if it is not prohibited. Fact is that your mother is dead. The bank cannot transfer her money now. A personal representative needs to be appointed for her estate and the bank will joyfully then turn over the funds to the personal representative who can then deposit the funds into an estate bank account at any bank in the universe.

You do not divulge a whole lot of details here. You don't just call a bank and tell the to move money. Why is that even needed? You simply withdraw the funds and go and deposit them at another bank. Or you arrange for a wire transfer or electronic system where you move money between banks. So I don't see why it takes 10 weeks. This evidently was not handled correctly and I have no idea whether your mother performed the proper steps or not.

I also fail to see why it makes a big difference if both accounts were in the name of your mother solely. Regardless if fnuds were in old or new account, either bank will not release funds if someone has died unless there is a surviving joint account holder.

An estate will need probated for your mother and a personal representative will need appointed. If this is a very small estate (under $10,000) and there are no assets except the bank account, then talk to the register of wills and see if you can use a simplied processs to collect the money in the bank.