Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New Jersey

Re: Dieing without a will

Your husband will cause you and the family some major headaches if he dies without a will.

The real estate will not "automatically" pass to you at his death because you are not joint owners on the deed.

If he dies 'intestate' [i.e. without a will] who gets his estate depends on state intestacy law at the time of his death. You may get everything, you may not, depending on who actually survives him. His estate will also have to pay for an Administrator's bond premium [these can be expensive and cost is based on value of the estate]. If he dies without a will, he will also lose the ability to do proper estate planning which could reduce or even eliminate any estate tax at his death.

Re: Dieing without a will

The only way for you to make sure that your assets go to the person or people you want is by having a will.

When you have children, it's even more important. You need to appoint a guardian of your children, to bring up minor children if you die before they are older. You also need to create a trust and appoint a trustee to hold assets, property, and money for your minor children. Minors cannot be the owners. Without a will, it may be necessary to go to court to appoint guardian ans trustees, and a court would have to approve every decision being made about the children or the property.

The intestate statute [law saying where "stuff" goes without a will] of most states has some kind of division of an estate between surviving spouse and children, it's not spouse gets all. Again, there should be a will.

While you [and both your husband and you need the will documents] are having a will prepared, you each should also get a Durable Power of Attorney [you appoint other persons to take care of your financial affairs if you are unable] and Advance Health Care Directives [also known as a Living Will, that specifies the treatments you would or would not want if you were unable to recover from an injury or illness and are near death] and a Health Care Proxy or Power of Attorney [you appoint others to enforce your health care preferences if you are not able].

After you are incapacitated, it's too late to take care of these important documents.