Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New Jersey

Re: Settling Estate

Your situation is not uncommon. Typically, the executor will need to do some searching to locate all the assets. Your uncle may have a safe deposit box which may contain deeds, insurance policies, stocks or bonds. Check the mail carefully. Often, you will recieve bank statements, dividend checks, insurance premium notices, pension checks, etc. which will help you locate assets.

If you are woried about an attorney misleading you, I suggest you check on the attorney and his or her firm before you hire the attorney. You should hire someone with experience in probate matters who will be able to help you complete the estate administration.

Re: Settling Estate

You need to check the papers your husband's uncle left as well as his mail. Another good souce is his last tax return. Both because it will help file a tax return for this year and may have clues of where his money is by listing dividend and interest income. If you need help from a lawyer you can call the county bar association's lawyer referral program. If you are near Morris County you can call me. Good luck.

Bernie Berkowitz

973-808-2003

Re: Settling Estate

An estate attorney, as myself, usually works closely with the client and develops trust and confidence in the relationship. The attorney is under a fiduciary duty to be honest and candid with the client. First place to start is with a review of your uncle's income tax return, to see what income and sources were reported. Find out where his social security was being deposited. Check the mail for statememnts from banks and/or brokerage accounts. Did he have an accountant - he might know locations of assets. You can call local banks to see if he had accounts there. In the spring income statements will be mailed, although this is a long time to wait. If you cannot find a return, write to IRS for a copy, but this is also a wait. A dishonest attorney could mislead you, but it would be hard since he must get your assistance to liquidate any assets he finds.