Robert Bonomi responded to Lisa Hancock:
My point was that it be handled like any other personal effects, not the fine points of estate law. I was disagreeing with those web enthusiasts as described in the original post who didn't want the email released at all.
Keep in mind that many estates are settled without probate and court orders. Getting that stuff is expensive and not worth it if the estate is small, such as often in the case of a young person.
I would presume the family presented a death certificate which is normally issued upon death.
As I mentioned above, going to court for probate and documentation is expensive. For a person without any significant estate this could be a waste of money.
If there is no will, the next of kin (as defined by law) becomes by default the executor. I would suspect military documentation provided that information.
Do we know that for sure? I would agree that if the parents just merely showed up with no documentation that their request should be denied. However, I presume there is official military documentation stating next of kin and so forth and they could've presented that.