Welcome to FT. Interesting first question, given your screen name....
I've posted this before, and it's information from over 20 years ago, but when my dad passed away, it only took one phone call and a death certificate to have his points transferred to my mom. Interestingly, they had a trip to Florida planned, with a reservation to use his points. Instead, we had his funeral that day. At the time, I had no status with Marriott, nor did my mom.