Any success unlocking activation lock of deceased family member in Washington State?

My brother-in-law died and his sister is the sole surviving relative. The Apple Store folks told her that it is easy to have the activation lock removed by Apple and to look online to see how. Apple requires a court order with five things that need to be specified. In Washington to follow the steps requires initiating Probate (which wouldn't otherwise be necessary since the 'estate' consists just of the iPhone and MacBook) and that process is lengthy and expensive. Lawyer quotes range from $2500 and up for Probate and making the court order. I am wondering whether any other WA state residents on this forum have gone through the process of getting a court order?

[Her interest is in being able to use her brother's devices, not in any private content. But from what I can see, Apple will not erase and reset the devices. The only way to do that is to obtain the court order and delete the data herself. So while Apple states that it's court order policy is to protect the privacy of customers, in this case that policy means that it will cost over $2500 for further use of the apple devices by the deceased's sister and she will have to look at the private data before she can use them.... :-( ]