If the surviving spouse gets authority from the court to act as the executor (if there was a will naming him/her as executor) or the personal representative (if there was no will) of the estate, he or she can use that authority (often contained in what are commonly called "letters testimentary") to open up a bank account for estate and place the deceased's money into that account. The estate account can then be used to pay debts of the estate, final expenses of the deceased, and the costs to maintain estate assets (e.g. to keep up  a house being inherited and prevent it from going into foreclosure)--but not for the purely personal bills of the surviving spouse. Ultimately, to distribute the money to whomever will inherit under the terms of a will (if there is one) or intestate succession (rules for who gets what when there is no will), the estate will have to be probated.