New Jersey Estate Litigation Legal Questions

You could take a fee for taking care of the house, but you are not paying rent, correct?  The house is now owned by the estate and you are technically "using" the house by occupying the house.  You don't have to sell the house, but you can take it out of the estate and put it into the names of you and your two sisters, and either rent it out or continue to occupy it. It is not as if you are getting something separately for the house, but the house is an estate asset and the fee you ge as an administrator is based on the total value of the estate including the house. If you still have questions, call my office and I will help if I can.  ... Read More

If I read your facts correctly Sibling #1 died after the parents.  The share of the house vested in sibling #1 and he can pass it to his heirs even though the house title was not put into his name.  The child of Sibling #1 is entitle to his 50% share of the house.  The child of Sibling #1, or someone else,  is going to have to be named as the administrator of the estates of the parents, and transfer title from their estate, into the estate of Sibling #1 and then who ever is the executor of sibling #1 estate (in the will) has to complete the distribution from his estate to the child of Sibling #1.  Good luck with this issue - its not as bad as you might think it is and I have done several cases where houses were left in the original owners names.  It is just a matter of sorting everything out. ... Read More

Before I try to answer your question - let me give you a little background.  When a person dies, their property or assets is divided into two categories:  probate assets and non-probate assets.  Probate assets are things that pass through the will and include anything that the decedent owned only in their own name.  Non -probate assets are all of the things that pass by operation of law.  Some examples are jointly owned property, and IRA's or 401(k) that have beneficiaries named. If your wife's dad died without a will, and his wife filed that the assets were less than $2500, then one of two things could have happened:  first; what he owned was jointly held property and went to the surviving owner, or second; she was dishonest.  Its going to be difficult to prove what assets existed at the time of his death but if you know the addresses of the properties you think were owned by him, you can do a title search on the properties and find out how they were owned in 1970, and how they are owned now.  I can help you with that if you would like.  Feel free to contact my office.  ... Read More

I'm not really sure that I understand the question.  Is it that your niece lived in a property owned by the decedent and that some how liens were placed against the property which were then paid off using the proceeds of the sale of the property?  The only thing that could have been there would have been property taxes, you can't create a lien on property you don't own.  So even if your niece incurred debt it would not have created a lien against your grandmother's property.  In any event, as a beneficiary, your mother has a right to request an accounting of the estate, as well as the HUD statement from the closing on the property.  Get those documents and see where the liens came from and request that those monies be credited back to the estate.  ... Read More

I'm not sure you can check anywhere to determine whether or not he is "legally" married other than the State offices in Trenton that record marriage certificates, but I don't know if you can get access to his records.  Do you know the county in which he lives?  Start by doing some property searches on line at the county board of taxation, call the county registrar of deeds, vital statistics, etc.  Even if he is legally married, his second wife is not entitled to his entire estate if he dies without a will.  If he does die, you can stop anything from happening with his estate by filing something called a caveat in the county in which he lives.  ... Read More

Do you need to probate if there was nothing in the estate: no - probate is the process by which you register the will and obtain a certificate indicating you have the authority to act on behalf of the estate for purposes of selling or disposing of estate assets.  If there is nothing in the estate, there is no reason to probate. As to the second set of questions - any one can sue - if they have the money to file a complaint they can sue, there is no prohibition.  however, if there is nothing in the estate, there is no relief that can be obtained.  The person suing the estate would have to claim that the assets were transferred improperly or that the person lacked capacity, or that the sibling caretaker abused their position.  this would require proof of undue influence, and other factors and is often very difficult to prove, especially if the transfers occurred several years before death. ... Read More

No personal property should be removed from the estate if it is not part of the planned distribution of the estate. Depending on the wording of the Will, the personal property may go with the house, or may be distributed to specific individuals.  If you are a court appointed administrator, and you are at the point where other people are stealing personal property from the estate, you should proceed very carefully to ensure that no one makes a claim against your for failing to secure the property, or breaching your fiduciary duty.  If property was stolen, file a police report.  ... Read More