Is anyone familiar with small estate affidavit

Parent Cafe
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Is anyone here familiar with small estate affidavit? Last month, my mother passed away. She had a small checking and savings account at one of the large national banks. My brother and I are listed as beneficiaries. We notified that bank and filed the forms they sent us. Now they are asking us to file a small estate affidavit for the funds in the checking account. We don’t know how much cash was in that account but it is likely only around 2,500. My brother and I both called the estate unit of the bank and got different answers on how to file this form. The person I spoke to said, the bank would have sent the form with the request, They did not, so she said I can google the form and download it, notarize it and send it to them. The person my brother spoke to knew less and just said that we would have to file in court in person. I googled and it seems that is not possible to download the form. It seems we need to file the form with a surrogate court in the county she lived in, which is in New York City. We have never filed anything in court and we do not live in New York City.

Is there an easier way to do this? We don’t have a lawyer at hand to help with this. I think for the balance in the account and the cost of a lawyer, it does not make sense. I am confused as to why this is necessary if we were beneficiaries on this account. The bank is not helpful in explaining further. So, any guidance you can provide would be helpful.

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I’m not sure whether this is the same thing, but we settled my parents’ estates via affidavit of heirships. If that’s what you were talking about, it was a relative piece of cake.

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My parents died in a different state and we needed an attorney to file the paperwork (and our names were also on the accounts). Is there any way the bank can tell you the balance on the account to see if it’s worth pursuing?

I’d also try calling the bank back and asking them to send you the form since you can’t download it. Escalate to a manager if necessary.

And condolences on the passing of your mom!

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Here is a link to the DIY process. You can prepare the forms and then submit to the court for filing without an attorney. I don’t think you should have to appear to file in person. Hopefully this is helpful.

https://nycourts.gov/courthelp/diy/smallestate.shtml

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Thank you for the condolences. I did ask for the form and the rep said, “didn’t you receive it with our letter?” Then she said they don’t have a form. It just seems they don’t know wha they are doing themselves and are making things harder than it should be for such a small disbursement.