Had she and I opened and funded a jointly-owned checking account that allowed either of us to transact independently, I could have accessed the funds in the days immediately following her passing. It’s not a foolproof solution, since as an independent owner, I could have used the funds for anything I wanted at any time before or after her death. She, like anyone else who takes this approach, would need to trust the co-owner implicitly since this is essentially like gifting the money to someone in advance and asking them to keep it for your future funeral expenses.