last will and testament Tag

“Powers of attorney are for old people.” “I don’t need a Will, I don’t own anything!” Truth be told, signing a basic set of ‘estate plan documents” at age 18 can prevent expensive legal problems later. It’s like fire insurance — you get it, but hope you don’t need to use it. I have been in court on so many occasions when an...

A handwritten Will is called a “holographic Will.” In New Jersey, it is referred to as a writing intended as a Will. The baseline statute for what is a “Will” requires that for something to “be a Will” it must be (1) in writing; (2) signed by the testator or by someone else at the testator’s direction while the testator is consciously present, and (3)...

Perhaps you’ve heard friends talking about a “legacy trust” or a “family trust ” or a “bloodline trust.”  These are all names for the same basic concept. You may be at a point in your life that you feel that you do not need to retain the ownership of all of your assets because you feel that you really “have enough.” You feel that you want...

In the recent case of In the Matter of Estate of Jameson ,  the New Jersey Appellate Division reiterated that there are limited bases to set aside a duly-signed Last Will and Testament.   Kenneth Jameson’s Will disinherited his daughter and made various strongly-worded statements about his feelings about her alleged behavior toward him and about her relationship with someone of a...

A few weeks ago, I took my kids to see The Secret Life of Pets. It was cute, fun and the kids loved it. Of course, when I take my kids to the movies, my elder law brain has to go with me. So, spoiler alert, there was a pet in the movie who had an older owner who had died. This put the pet in a vulnerable position.  Wacky hi-jinks ensue, and all is well at the end.  But my brain goes to, wow,...

“No matter what, please keep me out of a nursing home!” How often do people hear their parents say this, as the parents enter their most senior years. The reality is that aging in place is a complex but achievable endeavor for most people. Whether you are the person who hopes to “age in place,” or you are the person who will have responsibility to make it happen, you...

People often think of “estate planning” as just making a Last Will and Testament that directs who should inherit what. But a fundamental and necessary tenet of “estate planning” is to know just what you have, so that you can protect your heirs appropriately. Are any of your  accounts jointly owned? Depending on the circumstances, that might defeat the plan in your...

Recently I got a call from the child of a client of mine who had just recently passed away. The child was panicky because they could not locate Mom’s Last Will and Testament. Mind you, this particular Mom was a very organized person. Bills were always paid on time; the house was meticulous; papers were looked at, dealt with, and either filed, scanned  or discarded. The Mom had reviewed...

For centuries, people have been writing or signing Wills to declare what was to be done with their worldly goods upon their demise. Formally, this document has been called a “Last Will and Testament.” A person who has  “testamentary capacity” can write down or dictate their instructions, review the document, sign the document in the presence of two witnesses, and by...

Merely being married does not always create property rights to assets owned by the spouse. The NJ courts were faced with that question in Fox v. Lincoln Financial Group and Scarpone, Appellate Division A-3189-13T4, decided February 24th, 2015 and approved for publication. The decedent, Michael J. Fox, owned a life insurance policy issued by Lincoln Financial group. In 1996, after divorce from...