New Jersey Estate Planning Legal Questions

If you put your husband's name on the deed you can do it as joint tenants with right of survivoship.  That way the townshouse will pass to himautomoatically upon your deaht, and will pass to you automatically upon his death.  Without changing the deed, the property will not pass automatically to him on your death even though you are husband and wife.  ... Read More

You can pass the title to your wife after you die if you both own the property as joint tenants with rights of survivorship.  It abbreviated JTWROS.  If a husband and wife own the property as JTWROS its as if together they own 100% of the property and if one dies, the survivor still owns 100%.  The property passes regardless of what the will says, and passes without probate.  ... Read More

It depends on the purpose of the trust.  Any kind of asset protection requires and irrevocable trust.  But be careful, irrevocable means irrevocable, and if you change your mind, or the circumstances change, too bad.  An irrevocable trust is like a third person, it has its own social security number, pays taxes, and has a list of people who control it.  A trust is simply the list of instructions used to determine how and when the assets in the trust can be used.  The trust can hold all of the items you listed, the deed to a house, and two bank accounts.  The trust can also be the recipient of funds from a will, but does not include the will.  ... Read More

Failure to follow the trust document is a breach of fiduciary duty.  While the income is deemed distributed for income tax purposes resulting in the income beneficiary paying taxes on the income distributed, failure to actually distribute the accounting income is a breach of duty by the trustee.  There are Tax Court cases that hold the failure to make a mandatory income distribution is a taxable gift by the income beneficiary.  At the death of the income beneficiary, there is a potential estate tax problem caused by the failure to make actual distributions of the mandatory income distribution.  The fiduciary will have little to support why they did not follow the trust document and make actual distributions which caused the estate tax problem.  I highly encourage the trustee to make actual distributions of the accounting income which is required by the trust document.  Never let to tax tail wag the dog.... Read More

When your mother passed away, if she and your dad owned the properties jointly, then it all passes to your mother immediately.  After you have probated your father's estate, and you want to either sell the properties or change the deeds you will only need to show your mother's death certificate to prove that  they were married, and title passed to your dad on your mother's death.... Read More

Identity theft happens this way all of the time !  There are companies that will come to your house or business and shred huge amounts of stuff for a very reasonable price. For example - there is a company called Shred It that will leave you a bin, you put everything in, they come back and shred it for you.  I would recommend shredding everything because a lot of identity theft happens the old fashioned way - by people getting credit card statements or social security numbers through the trash.  Also - many local banks offer days in which you can bring paper to be shredded.  good luck !... Read More

you will not loose it to inheritance tax !  There is no inheritance between a parent to a child.  You may have to pay estate tax if the total amount of your parents estate is over $675,000.  there is a very easy way to double that, to protect $1,350,000.  You should explore various options, a trust for the house, taking advantage of all tax credits, and possibly gifting.  You can call my office for a free consultation.... Read More

A life estate will not protect the house.  A Trust could possibly protect the house, and maybe you were thinking of a living trust.  The condo association will place a lien against the condo.  When the foreclosure is complete, the mortgage company will have first priority and the condo association will only get paid after the mortgage company. ... Read More

You seem to have a good handle on what needs to be done - your instincts are correct.  If your uncle is unable to afford care, then yes, you can remove him from the home, and his absence from the home with extinguish the life estate.  he can also voluntarily give it up, or you can do that for him using the POA.  The sale of the property will be a bit more complicated than a normal sale because of POA and the life estate, but not anything that could not be handled by a competent attorney.  Where are you located?  I would be happy to help you with the sale.  You will also need a Medicaid consultation in that the monies you get from the sale may not have to be used for your uncle's care, depending on how you inherited the remainder of the property.  Feel free to call my office.  Good luck !... Read More

There is no estate tax between husband and wife so no estate tax return would have to be filed.  I'm not sure why you are concerned about who gets what share if both spouses are dead.  Were the wills of each person different?  Is the disposition different?  Or is the concern did the whole house pass to the surviving spouse, and then the surviving spouse's will governs what happens to the house?  If you have more information, please feel free to call.  ... Read More

You should see a lawyer to get a will drawn up.  He could make it so that the children get $80,000 and you get the house, or life rights to the house which ever he prefers.  The $80,000 could be a separate bequest, but you have to be careful about making you obligated to pay the children. ... Read More

First you have to look at the total value of the estate.  Estate tax is imposed on estates with a total value over $675,000.  You look at all of the assets in the estate and then deduct certain costs and expenses like funeral costs, attorney's fees, etc.  If the total amount remaining after the deductions is over $675,000 then you will pay tax.  If you become a joint owner of the house, then when you sell it you will pay capital gains tax on the difference between the sales price and the price your mother bought the house for in the 1980.  Balancing those two taxes out, I would say leave the house in mom's name and pay the estate tax - its less than you will pay in capital gains.  You will not pay inheritance taxes because you are Class A beneficiaries as children of the decedent.  ... Read More

The Power of Attorney is no longer valid and really doesn't bear any weight.  I have had this issue before.  I am of the opinion that there is no "majority rule" when it comes to the Executors because all of them need to sign off on things.  For example, if you were selling property, and one executor did not agree and would not sign the deed, then I do not believe that clear title would be passed.  If there is a disagreement among the three, then proper thing to do is to go to court and either seek to have the one executor removed, or if they just refuse to sign, get a court order indicating that the two remaining executors are authorized to sign on behalf of all three. ... Read More

No - it would not be part of your estate because your son will be the owner of the policy.  However, in New Jersey, the person buying and paying for the policy has to have an insurable interest in the person they want to insure.  In some states you can buy and insurance policy on another person with out any relationship or interest, but in New Jersey there has to be an insurable interest.  ... Read More

I'm not sure if you are asking if you have to pay all of the taxes when your mom dies, or now.  When your mom dies the Estate will be responsible for paying taxes on the house until it is transferred into you name and your brother's name.  The Estate will consist of all of your mother's assets, other than the house, and the money that is in the estate will be used to pay all of her last bills, and costs associated with administration, etc.  One thing you should keep in mind, if you live with your mother, and she ever needs to go into a nursing home, the house is an exempt asset and can be transferred directly to you. ... Read More

You can exclude your future husband from your estate by doing a combination of a prenuptial agreement and a marital share waiver.  In the State of New Jersey you cannot disinherit your spouse, so if you just leave him out the will, he can claim his marital share which is one third of the augmented estate.  He cannot make that claim, however, if he has signed a waiver of that share. You can also use a prenuptial to agree that neither of you will take from the other's estate.  What you will need is his agreement or consent, and you will need to have that in writing to protect your children in the future. ... Read More

The answers to this question depend on the mortgage, and the terms of the will.  The will may stipulate that the heirs take the property subject to the mortgage.  If that's the case, the heirs can take over the mortgage payments, but technically, the heirs should have the mortgage redone in their name.  Changing the title to the property could cause an acceleration of the mortgage and require immediate payment.  A bigger question becomes, what happened to the proceeds of the second mortgage?  Did the decedent take that in a lump payment and it went to other heirs?   Can the first and second mortgages be combined and refinanced?  Rates are good now and it might be worth your while to qualify and re-do the whole thing.  ... Read More

Yes - a trust can be formed.  You can allow the trust to accept the prize and do not have to have your name announced.  People often do that because if you win the lottery, you will be inundated with requests for money.  Keep in mind you will have a time deadline to accept your lottery prize. ... Read More