Searching for Missing Heirs (Part 1)
There have been a number of stories in the media about an epidemic of loneliness among the elderly. This is in part because families are smaller and more spread out. From an estate administration perspective, this means that many of these same people are dying alone and without apparent or at
Considerations When Leaving Estates to Non-U.S. Citizen Beneficiaries – Part 3
In my last 2 weeks’ blog posts I have been discussing the issues related to leaving your assets to beneficiaries who are not U.S. citizens. This week I want to cover a couple of recent scenarios in our office. One involved a decedent who was a U.S. citizen, died without a will
When Does Estate Administration Take So Long? Part 4
In my post last week, I covered the complications that can arise if there is no personal representative named - either because there is no will or because none of the named executors in the will are able to serve. This week I discuss the difficulties when there are no clearly
The Unknown (Half) Sibling – Part 3
In this third post of three I have been discussing Mary’s call to our office. She had taken care of her cousin, Sam in his home until his death following a long struggle with Alzheimer’s Disease. Sam had promised he would leave Mary his home but he never put that in writing
The Unknown (Half) Sibling – Part 2
In last week’s post I was telling you about Mary’s problem. She had moved in with and taken care of her cousin, Sam after his diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease. She had given up the lease on her apartment when she agreed to the arrangement and Sam promised in return to leave her
Why a Will is so Important in a Second Marriage – Part 2
In my post last week I began telling you about Mary’s call. Her husband, John passed away without a will so for the probate assets - those held by John individually with no co-owner and no beneficiary upon death - New Jersey’s intestacy laws would control. As I explained last week, these
Why You Want to Avoid Intestacy Laws – Part 2
In last week’s post I started talking about intestacy laws which direct how assets pass when a person dies without a will. This week I will discuss a couple of instances where failing to prepare a will proved harmful. In the first case, Joe was married but he had
Why You Want to Avoid Intestacy Laws – Part 1
In the past few months we have had calls regarding how to distribute assets of a person who dies without a will. This is what is known as dying “intestate”, without leaving a will or set of instructions as to how you want your assets distributed. Keep in mind