Small Estates

My husband died April 2009, without a will. He had 16,000 dollars in an Charles Swab investment account. My name was not on the account. We were married for 29 years and I was beneficary to his retirement accounts and life insurance accounts. How can I receive the money valued at 16,000 from Charles Schwab. THey say I need a death certificate, affidavit of Domicile, letter of distribution from me, and a small estate form. My husband did not make out a will. What can I do?

does California probate code/law require summary admin of a decedents (died intestate) estate value under 100k, or my the heirs proceed simply by way of the Calif small estate forms re personal bank accounts, 401k, pensions, and other nonreal property assets? Criminal defense atty, but seeking to assist a family friend who died intestate and wrap up his small estate asap without opening up probate.

in new york state, if a person dies and has a last will & testament and the estate that is worth less than $20,000, is probate required by law

My dad was an AZ resident and died recently in AZ. He had a vacant lot in Santa Maria worth 15-20K, no other property in CA . He had not retitled it in the name of his living trust. We will probably use AZ small estate rules (prop value _ 50K) to settle some insurance policies. Can I (the trustee/exector) use CA small estate rules to retitle the property to the trust? I live in AZ but need to settle some estate issues in CA.

My mother passed away in Pennsylvania, in 2003. She had no known assets at that time, so no probate was necessary. Since that time, a promissory note from some property that she had previously owned in Idaho was sold. $16,000 was owed and is now sitting in trust for my mother's heir (me). Is there any way to avoid probate on this matter, since it is below $20,000? The tricky part seems to be that she passed away in Pennsylvania, I live in Florida and the property was in Idaho where she once lived.