I'm A Bit Mystified

My stepmother-in-law died a few weeks back.  Her will was written up by lawyers in Orange County, California -- but because she died in British Columbia, it appears that the will has to go through probate there.  Unfortunately, British Columbia is severely backlogged, and they will require at least four months, a $200 filing fee, and hiring a Canadian lawyer, before they can issue the letter for the executor of the estate (a lawyer who is a cousin of my wife).

I am confused: shouldn't the state where the will was originally written, and when presumably has some sort of court of jurisdiction specified, take precedence over the location of the decedent's death?  And doesn't this all pretty destroy most of the advantage of having a will?

UPDATE: It appears that while this was organized as a trust, when the money was put into Charles Schwab, it was not put in as a trust account, hence the complexity.  Does anyone have a British Columbia probate attorney that they trust?