Inheritance question?

My partners ex husband died aged 50 last month after being diagnosed 9 months ago with a terminal illness. He was still on good terms with my partner before his demise. After he was diagnosed, he mentioned to both of us that he wanted to leave his entire estate to her but that this would cause upset in his family. He then suggested that he would leave her something big enough to get a better place to live but didnt specify exactly what. He is survived by his parents and two sisters. We dont even know if there was a will. Now that he is gone, my partner is obvoiusly curious to know what she has been left, if anything. She doesnt want to cause any upset with the family by asking directly so we wondered what the best approach would be. I guess that if she was left anything, a solicitor would be intouch eventually. All thoughts welcome.