Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New Jersey
A non-probated will...
My uncle died in 1977, his wife in 1994. (They had 2 children) Their wills, drawn in 1970 - named each other as the beneficiary. They named their children as joint beneficiaries after the parents were deceased. The title was in the Estate of the mother's name...The children both lived in the house...have NO dependants, never married. Last year the male child died @ 59 years of age - NO will. The will has not been probated yet, the title and tax records in the name of the estate of the mother. The male cousin never owned the house on record. The male cousin had no medical insurance and medical creditors are looking for the worth of his estate. He doesn't have any as the house was never sold/ transferred into his and his sister's names.
Now the female cousin wants to sell the house and I want to be sure I help her do the correct thing. Ipaid for their back taxes and funeral for the male cousin. I did a title search BEFORE I helped by paying the bills as I had to be sure I'd get reimbursed. I will now start the process of probating the will for my surviving cousin, age 67. I am concerned about the issue that the creditors can attach the funds after sale due to his bills. She has a fixed SS income.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: A non-probated will...
You can't do this on your own, not safely.
Find an attorney that you can trust, who handles estate administration.
I can recommend some people to you in this area.
Get some help before you get into this further.
Good luck to you.
Re: A non-probated will...
To answer your question I will need more facts and some additional time to review all the documents [in particular the deed]. However, I would think that at the death of the mother, title to the house would have passed either under her Will [if the Will was probated] or if her Will was not probated, then under the NJ intestacy statute.
In either case, it would appear that the two children became the joint owners of the house [as tenants-in-common] at their mother's death in 1994. Therefore it is likely that the son [your male cousin] owned half the house at the time of his death [even if there was no deed recorded to reflect this] and a creditor of his estate may have an interest in his assets, including the house.
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