Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New Jersey

Re: running up debt before death

The kid with the money will likely be forced to cough it up to pay the debts. Do the other kids have a claim? very hard to say. Did the parent really want to do this (cut all the others out) or was the parent pushed unreasonably ('undue influence')?

None of your questions can be easily answered. Find and hire an attorney to advise you.

Your question is pretty clearly part of some larger issue, and it is very VERY likely that you need accurate legal advice before taking any step such as signing and filing any type of document.

Whether this is related to a divorce, or the estate of a relative, or some other issue, you need some legal advice. It may not be terribly complicated, and should not cost all that much money.

If you do not take my advice, then please do keep my telephone number handy. If it becomes a problem, then instead of spending a couple of hundred dollars on a lawyer ahead of time, you will be paying me (or someone like me) thousands and thousands of dollars to clean up the mess which has been created.

I have been doing this kind of work for quite a while. Please do not let this kind of disaster happen to you. Please do go see a lawyer FIRST.

If you would like, give me a call; I am in Hackensack (northern New Jersey). I will be happy to discuss

this with you; a brief telephone consultation will be free.

My contact information can be obtained from the links below, just click on the Attorney Profile link. Let my secretary know you found me through LawGuru.

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exact facts of your situation, including facts which you have not mentioned in your question, may completely change the result for your situation.

Re: running up debt before death

There are multiple issues and a creditors rights attorney should be consulted as to some of them. Generally, and this is not intended to be legal advice or as creating an attorney-client relationship, what you propose may be illegal and run afoul of transfer in fraud of creditor claims, allowing the creditors to follow the money. Plus, this could create an exposure for an accounting among the siblings and extensive legal proceedings. Issues could be raised as to your mental capacity both by creditors and the other children, exposing the one child to extensive litigation and possibly criminal charges. This does not mean to say that there might not be legitimate ways to accomplish your goals, but on the facts as presented you are inviting both potential criminal and civil litigation.