When former teen idol Aaron Carter died last month at the young age of 34, it came as shock to the entertainment world. Some say his death is a reminder of the importance of mental health. His death can also be a reminder to us all about the consequences of not having a Last Will.. read more →

Chen Li, Esq. (http://VanarelliLaw.com/) will present on Trusts and Trust Taxation Issues impacting the New Jersey Probate and Trust Administration Process in an online seminar given by the National Business Institute (NBI) on December 15, 2022. Ms. Li will discuss aspects of the probate process and trust administration in New Jersey. Specifically, Ms. Li will.. read more →

Chen Li, Esq. (http://VanarelliLaw.com/) will present on the “New Jersey Probate Process and Executor Duties: Master Checklist with Deadlines” given by the National Business Institute on August 17, 2022 via online seminar. Ms. Li will discuss the probate process in New Jersey including an overview of the duties required of an estate executor. She will.. read more →

The decedent died without a will, and without a spouse, domestic partner, or children. Under the New Jersey laws of intestacy, if a decedent dies without a spouse or domestic partner, the decedent’s “descendants” inherit the estate. A “descendant” is defined to include a “child,” which in turn is defined as “any individual, including a.. read more →

Sally Rosenthal passed away on February 16, 2015. She was unmarried, had no children and died intestate as she had never executed a will. In order to locate decedent’s potential heirs, the temporary administrators of the decedent’s estate hired an expert to conduct a genealogical search for the decedent’s family members. Although the expert attempted.. read more →

John E. Travers, Jr. died unexpectedly in 2017 at the age of twenty-two. He was unmarried and died without any children, without a will, and without any written directive regarding his funeral or the disposition of his remains. Decedent’s parents, who are divorced, differed on how their son’s remains should be disposed of, and each.. read more →

Louis Acerra, the decedent, died at the age of 30 from injuries he suffered in a house fire. He survived more than two years after the fire before finally succumbing to those injuries. During those two years, he was cared for by Richard Litwin. Litwin had been in a relationship with the decedent’s mother when.. read more →

A court in Australia accepted an unsent, draft text message on a mobile phone as an official Last Will and Testament. Nichol v. Nichol The decedent, Mark Nichol, a 55 year old man, committed suicide in 2016. The decedent’s mobile phone was found on a work bench in the shed where the deceased’s body was found.. read more →

I previously blogged a December 11, 2015 Appellate Division case, In re Estate of Fisher, in which the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division considered whether a father’s actions should bar him from receiving a share of his deceased son’s intestate estate, under N.J.S.A. 3B:5-14.1. You can review that blogpost here. In Fisher, the Appellate.. read more →

Pennsylvania Superior Court ruled that a husband’s separation from his wife and subsequent extramarital affairs deprived him of his right to an intestate share of the deceased spouse’s estate. Estate of Kathleen Talerico, __ A.3d __ (No. 728 MDA 2015, filed March 18, 2016). Kathleen and Donald Talerico were married in 2006. The couple resided in.. read more →

Under the New Jersey laws of intestacy, if a decedent dies without a will  and without a spouse or children, his or her parents will share equally in his/her intestate estate. N.J.S.A. 3B:5-4(b). However, effective July 1, 2009, a New Jersey statute prevents surviving parents from sharing in a child’s intestate estate if the parent,.. read more →

The decedent, William Anton, was survived by his wife, with whom he was in the midst of divorce proceedings, and by his three children. A few weeks before his death, Mr. Anton, along with his son-in-law Keith, met with an estate attorney. After Mr. Anton told the attorney that he did not know where his.. read more →

22 Sep 2011
September 22, 2011

Dying Intestate

Estate Planning, Intestacy 0 Comment

Most people die without having executed a valid Last Will and Testament. Among the factors cited for the decision not to execute a will are: the legal fees associated; the reluctance to confront one’s own mortality; a general distaste of lawyers; the belief that a will is only necessary for those with large estates; and.. read more →

In a published decision, the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division, ruled that a trial court erred when it applied the doctrine of probable intent to create testamentary special needs trusts for two disabled children of a woman who died prior to finalizing her estate planning documents. In the Matter of the Trusts to.. read more →

I previously blogged about an Order entered in July 2009 by Hon. Patricia Del Bueno Cleary, J.S.C., a Superior Court Judge in Monmouth County, who granted my motion authorizing my client, the Administrator of his mother’s intestate estate, to (1) establish two Supplemental Benefits Trusts to protect the intestate shares of the estate which passed.. read more →

As reported on my blog, Judge John Malone, Presiding  Judge of the Chancery Division of the Superior Court in Union County, entered an Order authorizing the Administrator of an intestate estate, i.e., an estate of a decedent who died without a will, to establish a Special Needs Trust, often referred to as a Supplemental Benefits.. read more →