Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New Jersey

Re: Am I entitled to receive from my aunt's estate?

Assuming your 'aunt' left no will, since you are not an intestate heir, you would not be entitled to any of her probate estate. Since your uncle died and left his estate to his wife, you would have no rights in his estate either and the time for objecting has long since passed anyway.

Since your 'aunt' has been dead only 3 months, you may want to investigate whether or not she left a will or perhaps named you as a beneficiary of some other asset (e.g. bank acct., life insurance policy or IRA).

Re: Am I entitled to receive from my aunt's estate?

I have read the other attorney's reply.

The statutes of New Jersey provide the answer to your question, and I think I would like more information before trying to answer.

Many times, a person has a bank account or other assets owned in a fashion so that the asset automatically belongs to someone else when they die. The most common way is to set up a joint bank account with a younger relative, or by account payable on death.

If there are assets which are NOT owned in that type of fashion (furniture, personal effects usually are NOT), then you need a Court's action to set out who owns them. The Court's action (called a probate action) almost always is filed where the person lived.

You may ask your relatives to tell you what they did with all of your aunt and uncle's property. You may want an attorney's assistance to get more information, if you are unable to get a satisfactory response from them.

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Disclaimer: you can not rely on the advice of an attorney given over the internet. The exact facts of your situation, including facts which you have not mentioned in your question, may completely change the result for your situation.

Re: Am I entitled to receive from my aunt's estate?

Unless your "aunt" left a Will in which you were named, or designated you, by name, on any asset registration or document needed to specify a named beneficiary, you have no rights. The only people who have any rights when someone dies intestate (without a Will) are surviving spouses and natural (blood) relatives, no matter how remote (think a simple family tree). If your aunt had any assets in her individual name, her closest living blood relative is eligible to be appointed administrator of her estate, and would have to qualify with the Surrogate in the County in which she lived at her date of death. This may have not been done yet, since her nephew (presuming he is a blood relative) may not be the closest living relative and cannot qualify, or he has to gather sufficient paperwork to verify he is the eligible person (this may involve getting many original death certificates which could take some time, and under the new privacy rules may even require a Court Order allowing him to get them. There is no entitlement by your uncle's family to anything, unless the asset named someone as the taker on your aunt's death. I suggest waiting a while and periodically contacting the Surrogate to see if anyone has qualified. Then contact that person or the attorney representing that person and make your request. While you will have no rights, that person may be sympathetic as to pictures and personal effects.