New Jersey Estate Litigation Legal Questions

you can make a partial distribution, but do it equally to any and all beneficiaries and get each beneficiary to sign a release.  Also - it is the executor's duty to ensure that the recipient of any money does not have any outstanding child support judgments against him or her.  you must do a search, or risk the consequneces if there are such judgments, and you make payment to a beneficiary that should have gone to satisfy the judgment. ... Read More

You are right, the bank should not have released the funds, but they might not have known if the signature was forged.  Since your brother is acting improperly, your recourse is to seek to have him removed as the executor.  That would require a petition with the court, and you will most likley need to hire an attorney to assist you with that.  ... Read More

All the caveat does is stop the probate of the will.  If another person wants to probate a will, they have to petition the court and ask to have the caveat removed.  The caveator would then respond to the petition made to the court indicating why the will should not be probated. ... Read More

Contact the insurance company that holds the policy, tell them that your father died and your mother is the beneficiar.  The insurance company will send your mother some claim forms and you will be required to rpovide the original death certificate.  Then they will send your mother a check.  it is not difficult.  ... Read More

You would probably need to demand a formal accounting through the Court.  Call the surrogate's office of the county in which the estate was probated and see if any accounting has been filed.  The clerk may be able to help you file a request for a formal accounting.  If they can't help you , you may need to hire a lawyer to file the claim. ... Read More

If the brother passed away, there may not have been a need to file his will if he owned everything jointly with his wife.  The decision not to probate the brother's wll may have been done without condering the other property.  Another answer may be that when the parents died, and lef the property to his children with life rights for one daughter, the ownership of the property might have been changed so that when the brother died, his rights passed to the other siblings.  you should get a copy of the deed to the parents property and see if the surviving siblings get the property. ... Read More

If the will states that there is to be an equal distribution between you and your brother then you are entitled to half of everything.  You are entitled to half of the value of the house, now, and if he chooses to sell it in the future he can, but you do not owe him any 3% payment of potential commissions.... Read More

Typically in an action against an estate, the attorney's fees are paid form the estate assets.  If in this case, you think the problem is some form of malpractice on the attorney's part, you can bring that as a separate action.  Five years is too long to resolve the estate.  You should put something in writing, and send it certified mail to the attorney to get an answer. ... Read More

Once you are divorced, its as if your spoue pre-deceased you.  However, if those funds are in your name currently, then those funds are counted as your assets and may be included in the calculation of equitable distribution unless you can prove that those assets were not yours, and that they are being held by you. ... Read More

You need to ask the attorney.  It is not uncommon for an attorney to ask for a POA so that other adminisntrative tasks can be completed, such as applying for the EIN, or closing bank accounts and consolidating the money.  However, you should ask what specific tasks the attorney feels there are that need to be completed and what the purpose of the POA is going to be. ... Read More

you should look for a Certified Elder Law Attorney that practices in the county in which the estate was probated.  You can also contact the surrogate's office and request information about the estate.  If you have no information in two years, that's too long to wait and you might be able to just get the executor removed yourself and get the surrogate's court involved for you.  If this is in Ocean or Monmouth County call my office and I will try to help you. ... Read More

You need to get each beneficiary to sign releases and then submit those releases to the surrogate's court in the county in which the matter was admitted to probate.  this is a link to the form you need from Ocean County but I think the forms should be the same or similar in all counties. http://www.co.ocean.nj.us//WebContentFiles//25968bc3-809d-4e51-8673-15ef8c186f8d.pdf... Read More

Your aunts and uncles are all the beneficiaries in your grandmother's estate.  Because she died intestate, or without a will, someone (probably you) will have to be appointed as the administrator of her estate. All of your aunts and uncles will have to sign forms called renunciations indicating they give up the right to take the house.  You will need to file all of that with the court to close out the estate, and then transfer title from your grandmother's estate to yourself.  All of those documents will need to be on file in order for you to be able to have what is called clear title to the property.  This is probably something you will need to hire an attorney to do to make sure that all of the steps are completed. ... Read More

Yes. There is case law on point and there is a good chance you have a valid claim to the insurance proceeds. I just recently successfully concluded a case with the exact same issue for a client. You should definitely contact an estate litigation attorney ASAP and file a claim notice with the insurance company before they release to money to your husbands ex-wife. Time is critical. Of you would like my assistance, contact me at bill@askinlaw.com or 973-534-5341. ... Read More

Yes - you will still need to have the waiver to prove that no taxes are due, or that the taxes are paid in order to pass clear title at the sale.  The title company will point this out and require the waiver sicen someone will be signing mom's name using the letter testamentary or letter of administration.  Everything is included in the estate, even those items passing directly to a beneficiary.... Read More

Although you did not say, can I assume that your fiance died?  If tat is the case, this is occurring because you were not married.  therefore, you were not related to him at the time of death and will owe inheritance tax on the portion of the house that you inherit from him.  Inheritance tax is based on the relationship of the decedent and the beneficiary and it will be about 15-16% depending on the amount of tax due.  If you can prove your contribution, then that may reduce the amount of the inheritance and therefore reduce the amount of the tax.... Read More

Wait and see what value they get for the car.   They will sell the car and usually will not try to get back the difference because the cost of doing that is usually more than what they will get back. If they do try to get the cost back, they will try to put a lien against the estate, which will not just affect the credit rating but could affect distribution of assets if there is anything in the estate to distribute.  But fist you have to wait to see if there is any notice of deficiency between the cost of the lease and the value obtained at sale.... Read More

I'm sure there will be inheritance tax due based on your relationship to the decedent, your uncle.  You are in the class of beneficiaries that will be taxed.  You will have to pay based on the value of the entire estate.  The will may say that the estate is responsible for the taxes, so you will have to check.  You also do not have the be a partner with your brother.  You can either force the sale. Of the property or a buy out for yourself.  ... Read More