Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New Jersey

Re: probate

1. Your mother is not personally responsible for your uncle's debts or the debts of his estate.

2. As the Personal Representative (administratrix) of the estate, you mother is responsible to anyone who has an interest in the estate for the faithful performance of her duties. That includes paying the debts in the order prescribed by law. If she has any doubt as to what that means, she should hire a lawyer who does estate work to help her. She should not have any problem in finding an experienced lawyer who will look only to the assets of the estate for his fee. Since there are more debts tnan assets, neither your mother nor any heirs will be affected by hiring this professional.

3. Life insurance paid to a named beneficiary passes "outside of probate" and is not reachable by the creditors. It is, however included in the gross estate for the purposes of computing estate taxes (if any).

See also: http://info.corbettlaw.net/lawguru.htm