My grandma has just died and did not have a will. Her daughter had the forms that she used to ask my grandma to sign to get money out of her account. She has given the bank the death certificate and we need to know what happens next?

Sorry to hear that !

Normally a notary will be involved with the procedure. The notary will contact all parties involved, including the tax man and other official organizations.
The notary also will appoint an executor who will be the contact point for all, and who arranges the practicalities.
The total procedure can sometimes take several years, but normally is in the order of about 6 months.

:)

Well first the Power of Attorney forms ( assume that was what her daughter used while she was alive to do banking) voids at death, so a person with POA during a person life has no specific authority or power to do anything after death.

If there was no will, and depending on how bank accounts and/or property is deeded. Many things could happen. In many cases bank accounts have joint names, then the other person can merely take the money, if the house is jointly owned the other people just get the house.

If not then without a will, they have to go to probate court, get someone named over the estate and pay out the money according to state laws.
If she had no husband, all of her kids would be have equal interest in all of the estate.

My grandma has just died and did not have a will. Her daughter had the forms that she used to ask my grandma to sign to get money out of her account. She has given the bank the death certificate and we need to know what happens next?
You mentioned a bank account, but the process includes all of your grandma's property. Here is a short link that may help: What is Probate? (http://wills.about.com/od/howtoavoidprobate/a/whatisprobate.htm)

[quote=Credendovidis]Normally a notary will be involved with the procedure. /quote]

I don't know about where you are, but the only thing a notary does in my neck of the woods is verify that a signature is valid. They witness the signature and check the ID to certify the signature. I've never heard of a notary doing what you describe.

My grandma has just died and did not have a will. Her daughter had the forms that she used to ask my grandma to sign to get money out of her account. She has given the bank the death certificate and we need to know what happens next?

My condolences on your loss.

We need more info here. What assets did your grandma have? Just the bank account? Did she leave any debts? What are these forms you refer to?

The person assigned as executor of the estate needs to total up all the assets and all the debts. Then she has to pay all the debts from those assets and anything left over can be distributed to the heirs.

Generally, such things are done through a probate court, but if the estate is very small, that may be avoided.