My husband died without a Will, leaving 1100.00 dollars in a checking account. My name wasn't on it, so I knew I couldn't just walk into the bank and ask for the money without his death certificate, but boy did I get the runaround.

It started last March when I went into the bank with proof that he was in the hospital and unable to communicate. I was told that I just needed a power of attorney and that was it. So, I went online to find out how to do this and got nowhere. That's when I decided to get prepaid legal. The lawyer explained that he would have to be conscious in order to sign his rights over to me, or I would have to apply for legal guardenship. To make this part of the story short, my husband died before I could follow through on that.

That's when it gets silly.

I went back to the bank with his death certificate. They said I would have to go to court to get access to the account. I called my lawyer who sent a small estate affidavit. I sent this to our courthouse, who then told me that they had nothing to do with it and that I would have to go to my financial institution and give them the form.

Back to the bank I went. The bank idiot told me that I would have to have it signed by the court. Back to the court I went and they sent me back to the bank. Back to the bank I went and told them what the court said. The bank idiot again said I would have to get an order from the court.

At this point I told the bank idiot that I was contacting a lawyer. She smiled snidely and said go ahead. So I did, but I also took another trip back to the court(since I had to wait for my lawyer to call back) and explained my situation to them. They gave me another form for probate, explaining that I would have to appear in court and hand over 250.00. By then my lawyer called and asked to speak to the bank representative. The lawyer explained that you can use a small estate affidavit(Illinois) if the amount of assets is under 100,000 dollars. She could not understand why the bank was holding onto my money.

I drove back to the bank(my lawyer said I would have to be there) and told the bank idiot what the lawyer had said. I could see from her smug expression that she didn't believe that I'd spoken to a lawyer. I asked for her card and the correct pronunciation of her name and said I was calling my lawyer. She said you can call her right here and offered me a seat. I whipped out my phone and made the call, contacting the prepaid services and explaining what was going on.

The bank idiots eyes grew wide and she immedately picked up her own phone, calling some other idiot, and explaining what was happening. 15 minutes later I was walking out the door with my check.

So, if anyone else out there is having problems getting your spouses money. REmember if it's under 100,000 dollars, you can use the small estate affidavit and take it to your financial institution. You'll have to have it notarized, but that's all. The form is free and available online.

Tru