Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New Jersey

Re: Finding the lawyer

In New Jersey and most states, Wills, Trusts, and other Estate Planning documents are not filed with any government agency. Upon death, the Will of the decedent is filed with the Surrogate in the County of residence.

One reason people prepare Living (or "inter-vivos") Trusts is they are NOT filed with the Surrogate and the Public does not have access to the information. This gives important privacy protection.

The only exception to the filing is a Power of Attorney when it is used to convey real estate.

I hope this helps!

Ron Cappuccio

www.SaveYourEstate.com

Re: Finding the lawyer

I agree wiuth Ron. Traditionally nothing is recorded until a person dies, except possibly a Power of Attorney. IRS only gets a notice a trust is created to get an ID#, and merely gets basic information, not a copy of the document. The client usually gets copies of all documents prepared and, on occasion, originals. If you are an heir of someone who has died and need documents, there are several ways to get infomration. Look at old tax returns of the decedent to see what income has been reported. There may be brokerage firms listed, trust information or bank accounts. Brokerage firms and banks usually have copies of trust agreements if there is a trust account. For Wills, contact the Surrogate where the person lived when they died to see if anyone has submitted a Will for probate. You can place an legal ad in a paper asking that if anyone has knowledge of a Will of XX (the decedent) to contact you.