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 →
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 →
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 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 →
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 →
In New Jersey, a document may be accepted for probate as a will in a number of ways. First, under the formal requirements of N.J.S.A. 3B:3-2(a), a traditional will shall be (1) in writing; (2) signed by the testator or in the testator’s name by some other individual in the testator’s conscious presence and at.. read more →
New Jersey estate planning attorneys were again reminded of the conflict of interest minefield they face in In Re Buscavage, N.J. App. Div. No. A-6041-08AT3 (Aug. 25, 2010). Buscavage involved a challenge to trust amendments made by the decedent, Joseph Buscavage, in the final year of his life, which favored certain members of his family,.. read more →
Most of the cases discussed on this blog (and, I suspect, on most blogs which spotlight developments in the law) focus principally on decisions issued by the higher-level courts, the appellate courts and the supreme court of the state. However, the majority of court decisions in New Jersey and other states are issued by trial.. read more →
In the case entitled In the Matter of the Estate of Ronald M. Denner, Superior Court, Chancery Division, Union County, Docket No. 0 – 3474 (Hon. Thomas N. Lyons, J.S.C., February 28, 2006), The Court held the three documents, though unsigned, undated, and neither witnessed nor notarized, may, if properly proven, be admitted to probate.. read more →
The entire controversy doctrine requires litigants in a lawsuit to assert all claims that each party might have against the party in a single lawsuit. R. 4:30A The doctrine is intended to prevent fractionalized litigation. There are three reasons for the doctrine: (1) the need for complete and final disposition through the avoidance of piecemeal.. read more →
When developing your estate plan, it is important to recognize the possibility that, after your death, that plan could be challenged by those who expected more favorable treatment from you under your Last Will and Testament. For example, if you choose not to leave your estate equally to all of your children under your will,.. read more →
If a client chooses not to leave his estate equally to his heirs, or even to disinherit one or more of the children from any distribution of estate assets, the client’s estate attorney can take steps now to minimize the risk of a future challenge to the will. Such challenges usually involve claims that the.. read more →
A New Jersey appeals court overturned the dismissal of a lawsuit alleging that the defendants improperly created a supplemental needs trust, allowing the defendants limited access to the plaintiff’s psychotherapy records in order to rebut her claim that the trust’s settlor did not think she needed a trust. Laubach v. Quinn (N.J. Super. Ct. App… read more →
A part of my practice involves mediation and collaborative legal practice. Both mediation and collaborative practice are dispute resolution techniques used as a alternative to litigation to settle a dispute. I believe that settlement, which is a product of mutual agreement, is almost always better than litigation. Settlement involves the principal of self-determination. That is,.. read more →
In the Matter of the Estate of Madeleine Stockdale, the New Jersey Supreme Court considered the circumstances in which it is appropriate to award punitive damages against a party in a court proceeding who has engaged in undue influence in the creation of a will or testamentary trust, or in improperly securing an gift of.. read more →
In McAuliffe vs. Benish, Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division, plaintiffs, the adult daughters of the decedent testator, brought a lawsuit against the romantic partner of their deceased father, seeking an order directing her to pay the estate and inheritance taxes on the home that she inherited from the decedent as joint tenant with.. read more →
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