Estate Law Blog
Contingency planning is always advisable for families with minor children at home. The present pandemic has put the need for provisional planning into high relief -- who will care for your minor...
UPDATE: On 4/15, Governor Murphy signed a new law allowing for remote notary acts. I'm grateful that the state has passed this urgently needed law. It does not completely meet th...
We are -- as we're continuually reminded -- in uncharted waters. As of this writing, all New Jersey residents are under order to remain home except under very limited circumstances. Go...
One recurring challenge in my practice is that it’s difficult to advise a client about how attorneys’ fees are likely to be handled in contested probate. I’ve spoken and written on t...
New Jersey, like virtually every state, allows a spouse to take an “elective share” of their deceased spouse’s estate. The general notion, and the national model, is that you can&rsq...
One recurring theme in my practice is that jointly held assets present a host of potential problems in the administration of a decedent’s estate. Generally, what I’m thinking of is bank ac...
Joint bank accounts and joint investment accounts are the source of so many of the estate disputes I see in my practice. While joint bank accounts and joint brokerage accounts may seem like more or le...
When representing a personal representative in my probate practice, it not unusual for my client to scoff at the idea of making a formal notice of probate. Take a common situation in which the...
I was speaking recently with an excellent estate planning attorney, discussing the matter of joint bank accounts. From the point of view of the estate planning lawyer, joint bank accounts looked like...
A client comes to my office to discuss guardianship proceedings for her elderly mother. Her mother is no longer able to take care of herself, and without a durable power of attorney it is increasingly...
Many of the estate administrations we handle come to us midstream. Many people, when they learn they’re named as executor in a Will, begin the probate process without counsel; I have...
I’ve written here about how little time a litigant has to challenge the probate of a Will in New Jersey. Under Rule 4:85-1, in almost all circumstances, an action to set aside the probate must b...
“In delay there lies no plenty.” In estate litigation, there’s rarely reason to delay, and often every reason to act quickly. Once probate has been granted, assets can be liquidat...
In the majority of cases that come into my office in NJ, actual ancillary probate is not necessary. If the decedent died with a Will in an another state owning property in New Jersey, most of th...
The notion that a signature should always be required for certain important documents and instruments continues to fade in New Jersey law, and it appears that the door may be open to probating a Will...
At the beginning of estate litigation, it’s not unusual for a party to apply for temporary restraints, usually in the first filing with the court. Temporary restraints are akin to what are more...
My office is nearly on the border between Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and I recently posted about what I consider the most significant difference between the intestacy rules in the two states. The in...
In mind of the fact that estate planning is a significant part of my firm’s practice, it’s surprising how often I’m asked: what happens if I die without a Will? We are a few miles...
When handling a decedent’s Estate, one common and sometimes thorny problem is property owned by decedent in another state. Often, the only option is to conduct what is called ancillary administr...
Except where a married couple has had careful estate planning, more often than not the death of the first spouse creates an unexpected estate administration problem. It’s very common for nearly...
In my practice, it’s common for me to learn that a decedent held a joint bank account with an adult child or other trusted person in the belief that a joint account would be a convenient way for...
Although many of us would rather not think about needing long-term care, the federal government website http://longtermcare.gov/ notes that 70% of people turning age 65 can expect to use som...
Planning to Age in Place: Should You Consider Home Modification? Americans are living longer and overwhelmingly wish to stay in their own homes as long as possible. At the same tim...
