Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New Jersey

Re: Dying out of the country

This will take alot of time and investigation. I suggest you start with the American Consul in the island in which he died, to see if they can get you a copy of the death certificate and a copy of any police reports on the incident. You may have to go to the island yourself to try to get the information. You can also call the Surrogate's office in the County in which he was living in NJ and see if any Will was probated, or any administration papers were filed (if he died without a Will and had assets in his own name, not jointly with your setp-mom, someone would have to have filed to represent his estate). This may give you some leads. If you know of any banks he used, you could call them to see if he had any accounts (you could also shotgun calls to any banks in the town or county in which he lived and question them) to see what you could learn. Maybe contact other relatives to see if they have any banking or asset information. You could also take an advertisement in any local and/or statewide paper covering the county ihn which he lived - saying something like - does anyone have any information regarding a Last Will and Testament of Dr. "X" who resided in -----, please contact you. This may help if he had a Will and the attorney who wrote it reads the ad. More difficult and maybe not helpful, would be to call all attorneys in his community (if it was a fairly large one) or the biggest city there. You may also want to hire a private investigator to question your step-mom, maybe neighbors, etc., to see if there has been a major change in her lifestyle, relationships, etc. This is going to be a big job and time consuming, especially after so many years. Good Luck!

Re: Dying out of the country

You have presented a very difficult problem that can only be resolved with a detailed investigation of the circumstances of your father's death. A private investigator may be needed not only to dig into that matter but also to research whether a will was prepared. Unfortunately, all of that will take a substantial amount of money. If you have it and want to find the answers, you should be able to do so. Keep in mind that this advice is based purely on the little bit of information that you have given to me. There may be other factors that would change my opinion. Further, no one can rely on advice from an attorney who has not been retained. Since it appears that you have not retained an attorney, before you take any further action, you should contact an attorney (either me or someone else) to discuss your matter in more detail. Only then will you be able to rely on the advice. I will be happy to assist you. However, you need to call me at 856-546-8010. If you mention LawGuru, there will be no charge for your first consultation. Good luck! Rob Gleaner