No. A Durable Power of Attorney terminates when the principal dies. There is an abridged process to obtain smaller amounts of money from a deceased parent’s bank account, but for larger estates, the bank needs legal confirmation of who is authorized to receive the funds. Letters Testamentary are issued by the Surrogate’s Court to the nominated Executor of a will when the will has been accepted by the court for probate. The “Letters Testamentary” (or Letters of Administration if there is no will) indicate the Executor’s (or Administrator’s, if there is no will) authority to act in connection with the decedent’s estate. The only way to obtain Letters Testamentary is through a probate (or administration) proceeding in the Surrogate’s court.
By Esther Schwartz Zelmanovitz
