DEATH, TAXES, AND U.S. SAVINGS BONDS In helping executors administer estates, I have learned that there are three things that are certain in life -...
Eldercare Lawyer Blog
The Power of Probate
THE POWER OF PROBATE Ask most anyone who's thought about the subject and they'll tell you - probate is a bad thing. People try to avoid probate, at...
Simplified Tax System
NEW JERSEY'S SIMPLIFIED TAX SYSTEM COULD BE COSTLY Could the method that an estate utilizes to report tax to the State of New Jersey result in...
Probate Is Easy
FOOL'S RUSH IN "My uncle recently passed away, Mr. Callinan, and I have a few questions," says the man who's come to see me this morning. "He left...
Probate Explained: What It Is and How the Process Works
Sometimes I think people fear probate more than they fear death itself. They want the management of their estate to be as simple as possible when...
Personal Liability
CAN MY EXECUTOR BE SUED? "I want to name my son as my executor," the woman tells me. "If I do, is he personally liable for any debts that I have...
What do my relatives receive from my estate?
WHO'S LAUGHING NOW? A "laughing heir" is a euphemistic term that estate planners use to describe a person who inherits money from a relative with...
What happens if I die without a will?
NO WILL, NO WAY If you die without having made out a Will, what happens? Does your property just pass to the State of New Jersey, leaving your...
When “Family” Isn’t as Legally Clear as It Sounds
IS A CHILD BORN 18 MONTHS AFTER YOUR DEATH, YOUR CHILD? Is a child born eighteen months after a person's death that person's "child"? If so, is that...
Does Probate Cost Much Money?
THE ENEMY'S NOT AT THE GATE, HE'S ON THE COUCH People almost universally believe that when they die their estates will be subject to stringent...
What type of compensation is an executor entitled to?
EXECUTOR'S COMMISSION: JUST DUES Being the executor of a Will is a job. It involves a significant amount of work. The executor has to probate the...
How much of my estate must I leave my spouse?
WHEN THE WELL-SPOUSE DIES FIRST When planning for an ill-spouse to qualify for Medicaid benefits, I have to take into consideration the fact that...
Where should a will be submitted for probate?
WHERE DO YOU LIVE? A Will is probated in the state and in the county where the decedent died "domiciled." It has been said that a person can have...
Who pays counsel fees when a will is challenged?
THE PARTY'S OVER, HERE'S THE BILL The legal battle over the estate of Madeline Stockdale - the Spring Lake widow whose estate is worth millions -...
Should I Name Co‑Executors for My Estate?
ARE TWO HEADS ALWAYS BETTER THAN ONE? A number of my clients express a desire to name two of their children as the executor of their Will. The...
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Recent Posts
Don’t Pay in Cash
For decades now, I have been filing applications for Medicaid benefits on behalf of my clients. I would say that in almost every case in which the client lived in their home with the assistance of a home health aide, the client (or more accurately, the client’s...
My Kids Would Never Do That!
“My kids would never do that.” It’s a line I hear with some frequency, particularly when I discuss the possibility of a challenge to the client’s Will. A last will and testament passes the property of a decedent to the beneficiaries she chooses. Typically, the...
Are Guardianships Vehicles of Abuse?
I recently watched a docuseries. This particular show was about guardianships. The theme of the docuseries is to expose the ways in which people in power or the-know steal from others. The theme of this particular show was about how people serving in the role of...
Stimulus Check
My office has received a number of calls about the federal stimulus check that many taxpayers received. There are two basic questions that my office receives, and the questions are as follows: My loved one died in 2019, how do I cash his stimulus check? Or, My mom...
Meeting Me in the Age of Covid
Lately, you may have been thinking about your mortality and deciding that you definitely need to have your last will and testament drafted—the one you’ve been putting off for years. While you were at it, you wanted to have a living will and financial power of...
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