When a spouse dies

So today I have to go to court for a hearing to appoint my client as administrator of his wife's estate. Why? Because they had no plannin other than joint tenancy and the wife had received a large inheritance before death that was never deposited into thei joint account. This was therefore her separate property and therefore does not just pass outright to her husband. Now we need to open a probate and the money will be shared by husband and their two kids.