My mother recently passed away in New York state. There is nothing left of her estate except for a small check from insurance rebate made out to "the estate of" and whatever comes back from tax returns (stimulus check) and small nursing home surcharge rebate all will be made out to "the estate of" I was named the executor in her will which was sent to the surrogate by her lawyer (non-probate). How do I open a bank account for "the estate of" for these small checks without going through probate? The bank said I would have to go to the surrogate and get an "Executrix" paper - does that mean going through probate?

Yep, you are suppose to go to probate or find a bank that would let you open one without the letter