saving account

my wife set a vacation account in her name only the day before she was to leave she passed. Now wells fargo in az gave me a form to fill out. but will not help me with the wording tells me I have to get a lawyer to word it for me. The amount in the savings is not a large amount to spend the resources getting a lawyer ! wells fargo will not give me acct # to write on form.

Privacy Laws prohibit banks from disclosing any information on accounts without written permission from the account holder. (In your case, that's obviously impossible.) They also cannot offer legal advice on how to access someone else's accounts. Which state do you live in? Arizona is a community property state in which all property accumulated during a marriage, except that acquired by either inheritance or gift, is considered "community property." Several other community property states also have the same statutes, depending on where you live. Regardless, it still might be worth a phone call to an attorney in your area (many offer free preliminary half-hour consultations , sometimes even via telephone) who can help translate banking paperwork with you. Good luck.
Added 7:22 PM: If you wish to contact me via private message, I would be more than willing to offer some assistance. I am well-versed and federally licensed in the financial industry and may be able to help 'translate' or assist you with questions. Ours is a sometimes cold and unfeeling industry and we're often impossibly tied up by federal regulations, but there are still a few individuals on the 'inside' that will voluntarily step in and help with procedure, if we can.

You may want to contact a paralegal or maybe a law school in the area. You could probably pay a paralegal or a law student to assist you for a nominal fee. Good luck and I am sorry for your loss.

I won't reword the attorney's words, nor copy an answer from Answer.com. But, I might suggest, if the account number is a 'starting place' for you, wait until her first bank statement comes in the mail. I suspect if has been near thirty days, a statement has or will shortly be coming and while it won't let you access her account, it will most assuredly have her account number on it.

My condolences on the loss of your wife.

Me thinks JEFFY didn't notice that the ADMIN nabbed his other posting.

Jeffy, cuppycake, go away. You aren't even a GOOD spammer.