Power of attorney dies with you, leaving a gap before probate

A power of attorney (POA) terminates immediately upon the principal's death, but the executor's authority doesn't begin until the court issues Letters Testamentary, which takes weeks to months. During this gap, no one has legal authority to act on behalf of the deceased or their estate. So what? Bills go unpaid, a mortgage enters delinquency, time-sensitive business decisions can't be made, a car lease auto-renews, a rental property has no authorized manager, and medical providers refuse to release records needed for life insurance claims. So what? The surviving family watches in real-time as the estate's value deteriorates from autopilot: late payment fees accrue, insurance lapses, perishable business inventory spoils, and service contracts auto-renew for another year. So what? The very period when the family is most vulnerable, immediately after death, is when they have the least legal power to act. This persists because the POA-to-executor transition was designed for an era when most assets were physical and could wait. Modern financial life runs on autopilot subscriptions, auto-renewals, and time-sensitive digital systems that don't pause for grief. No legal instrument exists to bridge this gap without court intervention, and expedited probate procedures, where they exist, still take 1-4 weeks.