I recently blogged about In the Matter of the Estate of Lillian Schmidt, a case that can be seen as a warning to potential plaintiffs seeking counsel fees in probate actions. On August 7, 2012, in In the Matter of the Alleged Will of Allan C. Schenecker, the Appellate Division issued another decision upholding the.. read more →
In a case that can be seen as a warning to potential plaintiffs in probate actions, the Appellate Division in In the Matter of the Estate of Lillian Schmidt, affirmed a Probate Part order denying counsel fees to the unsuccessful contestant in a probate litigation. In Schmidt, the defendant, John Teagno, who was the decedent.. read more →
In a published opinion, the New Jersey Appellate Division took a further step away from requiring strict compliance with statutory formalities required for wills when it considered whether an unexecuted copy of a typed original will “sufficiently represents decedent’s final testamentary intent to be admitted into probate under N.J.S.A. 3B:3-3.” The court found that it.. read more →
Where an original last will and testament is lost or cannot be found upon the testator’s death, a photocopy of that will may be admitted to probate. In determining whether such relief is appropriate, “the key issue is whether the testator had the intent to revoke the missing will.” In re Estate of Schenecker, 2011.. read more →
Aurelia DeFrank died on August 18, 2009, a resident ofMercer County, New Jersey. Although decedent’s husband predeceased her, her two (2) adult children, daughters Lorraine D. Rubaltelli and Diane C. DiDonato, survived her. Decedent executed a will dated March 21, 2002 which was admitted to probate. Decedent’s probate estate consisted of real property, including a.. read more →
Verna and John Obermuller transferred their real property located in Brooklyn, New York to their daughter Joan Langone, one of their four children, while retaining life estates and powers of appointment in the property. John and Verna also executed a Trust Agreement between themselves as grantors, and Joan as grantee, in which Joan acknowledged that.. read more →
In September 2010, I blogged about the Matter of the Estate of Jewell B. Sykes case, in which the Appellate Division concluded that family ties, without more, do not create a “confidential relationship.” That blog post can be found here. In a February 16, 2012 decision in In the Matter of the Estate of John.. read more →
On January 11, 2012, the Appellate Division considered In the Matter of the Inter Vivos Trust, Joseph Brandes, Grantor (September 12, 1994) and In the Matter of the Inter Vivos Trust, Dorothy Singer, Grantor (December 23, 1999), two non-consolidated but related cases in which a mother/guardian ad litem brought litigation against the trustee of two.. read more →
In the December 13, 2011 Estate of Sano Chancery Division case, the decedent’s wife had sued the decedent’s former employee (Ms. Chung) and that employee’s sister (Ms. Choi), claiming that they defrauded and unduly influenced the decedent to change a beneficiary designation of a $2.5 million life insurance policy. The policy had originally named the.. read more →
Several weeks ago, on Sunday, November 20th, I was a guest on The Caring Generation, a radio show airing on 630 KHOW-AM, a Talk Radio Station broadcasting from Denver, Colorado, and on the internet. The show is hosted by Pamela D. Wilson, who identified herself as the “Care Navigator.” The Caring Generation is about.. read more →
In a September 30, 2011 unpublished opinion, our Appellate Division considered the duty owed by the scrivener of a will to third parties, and declined to extend that duty to the stepson of a decedent who had been omitted from the decedent’s will. In Taffaro v. Connell, No. A-4928-09T2 (App. Div. Sept. 30, 2011), Dolores.. read more →
At the time of the Court’s decision, Marie Fecoskay was an 87 year old woman who had been admitted to the hospital because of an infection. A few days after admission, Mrs. Fecoskay went into cardiac arrest, became comatose as a result of oxygen deprivation and was placed on a ventilator with feeding tube. The.. read more →
I am presently involved in a lawsuit in which my clients, three adult children of their now deceased father, are suing their deceased father’s former agent under a Power of Attorney. As alleged in the Verified Complaint filed by plaintiffs, the adult children claimed that the decedent either was incompetent when he signed the Power.. read more →
In this case, the decedent, William McLellan, created an irrevocable life insurance trust for the primary benefit of his wife and children in 2006. The life insurance trust was funded with a $2.5 million life insurance policy. Plaintiff, Lois Jean McLellan, the spouse of the decedent and mother of two of decedent’s four children, was.. read more →
A New Jersey appellate court held that intentionally withholding information in mediation does not invalidate the resulting settlement agreement. Matter of the Estate of Lillian L. Fischer, Deceased (N.J. Super. Ct., App. Div., No. A-0091-10T2, June 14, 2011)(unpublished). This matter involved a probate dispute between Catherine S. Richards, the 91 year old domestic partner of.. read more →
A New Jersey court has held that a co-executor’s “unbridled belief she could act unilaterally in administering the decedent’s estate without the need for consent from the co-executrix … [may] amount[] to a breach of the [co-executor’s] … fiduciary duty [and] … [constitute] cause for her removal.” In the Matter of the Estate of Albert.. read more →
Matter of Mildred B. Trocolor involved a dispute between two of the decedent’s adult children who were co-executors of the decedent’s estate. The decedent’s daughter, Daryl, brought the lawsuit, alleging that, while the decedent, Mildred B. Trocolor, was alive, the defendants, her brother Robert and his wife, Genevieve, stole substantial sums of money from the.. read more →
Superior Court Judge Walter Koprowski, Jr. ruled on February 1, 2011 that handwritten notations on a hand-written letter constituted a valid will, although the letter itself did not. In Estate of Randall, the decedent’s cousin, plaintiff Charles Cameron, III, offered for probate two pages of a photocopied letter from 1998, with original marginal notations. The.. read more →
The validity of a 1977 alleged holographic will was at issue in the Estate of Inez Bull case, decided on March 10, 2011 by the Hon. Walter Koprowski, Jr., J.S.C. On summary judgment, Judge Koprowski ruled that the holographic will was valid, and admitted it to probate. Inez Bull had drafted a purported holographic will.. read more →
The decedent, William Walb Jr., executed a will in January 2003, in compliance with the statutory requirements regarding execution set forth in N.J.S.A. 3B:3-2a. The decedent was a widower at the time he executed the Will and had no children. In his will, the decedent left approximately 81% of his substantial estate assets to Albright.. read more →
I. INTRODUCTION Guardianship actions may be contested by the alleged incapacitated person him/herself, or by third parties, such as the alleged incapacitated person’s adult children. Issues raised in a contested guardianship action generally involve whether the alleged incapacitated person is, in fact, incapacitated; and, if so, who should be appointed as the alleged incapacitated.. 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 compiled my selections for the top ten (10) New Jersey estate and probate litigation / will contest cases in 2010. For those cases I previously blogged about, a link to the blog post as well as the case is included below. (1) Matter of the Estate of Jewell B. Sykes, Docket No. A-1109-09T2 (App… read more →
Thomas Saccone is a retired Newark, NJ firefighter. He and his wife’s only son, Anthony, suffers from severe mental disabilities. Tom is a long-standing estate planning client of my law firm. Tom has shown himself to be a devoted husband and father who is relentless in his efforts to plan his estate in order to.. read more →
As an elder law attorney, I receive many inquires from potential clients asking me to evaluate a potential lawsuit against a sibling involving a deceased parent’s estate plan. The claim typically seeks to set aside a deceased parent’s will as invalid, the result of undue influence by a sibling. Typically, the potential client seeking a.. read more →
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