Q. I was told that a Muniment of Title could be used to settle an account with a brokerage house. I tried that approach with my wife's estate, of which I am the Executor. The brokerage firm would not accept the Muniment of Title because I was not appointed by the court to be the Executor, and they wouldn't look at the will at all, where my role is laid out. What did I do wrong?

A. It's hard to say what was done wrong. Wills are probated as muniments of title--which is a simplified way of going through probate--all the time, and they usually work just fine.

Let's review the steps you should have taken in probating your wife's will as a Muniment of Title. Perhaps you'll discover what went wrong as you read through the process.

You should have started by filing the original will along with an application for probate with the county clerk's office. The application should have stated (among other things) that there is no necessity for administering your wife's estate and that there are no debts of the estate other than those secured by real estate. (You can probate a will as a Muniment of Title if there is a mortgage on your home.)

After a mandatory 10 day waiting period, you should have attended a hearing where you or another person would have testified before the court about certain facts relating to the decedent. Most people hire lawyers to prepare the paperwork and handle the scheduling and conducting of the hearing. In fact, most courts don't allow people to appear in court without a lawyer.

Once the probate hearing was over, you should have ordered a certified copy of the will and the signed order from the clerk's office, and then forwarded those documents to the brokerage house. They may prefer for you to be the court-appointed executor of your wife's estate, but when presented with a court order requiring them to disburse the account, they should do as directed.

According to Texas law, the order admitting the will to probate as a Muniment of Title is sufficient legal authority for banks, transfer agents, brokerage houses or other businesses holding assets of the estate to pay those assets to the person or persons named in the will.