Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New Jersey

Re: residuary estate

The Will dictates how the estate should be distributed. You should have received a copy of the will when you were notified of the probate. If you do not have a copy, you can contact the Surrogate's Court and request a copy. If the executor is asking you to sign an approval that you believe is inconsistent with the Will, you should not sign and retain an attorney to best protect your interests.

When considering whether the executor is properly distributing, you should remember that the estate is calculated after expenses. So if you were entitled to 25% of an estate that was originally $100,000 (thus, $25,000), if the funeral expenses, medical expenses, debts, etc. equalled $40,000, then the estate is only $60,000, and your share would only be $15,000.

Good luck.

Re: residuary estate

I would need to look at the Will and the accounting to determine if anything improper is going on. If the Will left you and the executor 50% shares of the estate, then you both should have recieved equal distributions last year, and would recieve equal final distributions as well (except his commission would increase the total he would recieve).

It's important to review and understand the accounting. Please contact me if you would like me to review this with you.