I'm sorry about your mom. I just went through this when my mom passed. It's pretty simple. Probate can be skipped if-
- all property (of any type) is already marked TOD or POD to a beneficiary. This can even include property or a vehicle.
-And no one disputes those or the actions of the executer (otherwise the court has to be involved)
It has nothing to do with estate size or type of property involved. In my case I'm an only child, the estate was just over $1M but everything, and I mean everything (car, house, bank accounts, taxable investment accounts, retirement accounts, insurance etc) was TOD to me. I completed everything without probate. One thing that is important to note, if there are significant investment accounts, you MUST transfer them over ASAP because technically the tax law says that if these accounts earn greater than $600 of gains after death in the deceased person's name, you need to have the ESTATE file a return. Which means you have to go to probate to open an estate. If you transfer them immediately the assets step up in value and any gains earned after the transfer are now yours.
Keep the bank account open as long as you can because various checks will come in, things like refunds on medical or utility bills. It's helpful to just let those come in with her name on it and deposit them because it's very difficult to get them to pay out to your name. They'll make the checks out to an estate, but it would be stupid to open an estate for $100 medical bill refund.