Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New Jersey
My sister is co-executor of my mother's estate. The will stipulates the estate is to be divided equally between her seven children. My sister is refusing to put the will in probate for "emotional reasons". In the meantime, she took my mother's car to her home (out of state) for her personal use, she is refusing to allow us to put my mother's home on the market, and she is having workmen come in and make repairs and changes to the house and writing checks from the estate to pay for them. How can I have her removed as executor so our family can proceed with probate of the will, sale of the house and distribution of assets? State is New Jersey.
3 Answers from Attorneys
If your mother was a resident of NJ, her will is required to be probated. You should engage services of an estates lawyer in the county where your mother resided at the time of her death, to file a petition requiring your sister to probate the will. If you have a copy of the will, there may be a way to probate the copy and seek to be appointed as the executor in her place because of her failure to act, but your lawyer will have to make that determination based on the will and reviewing the relevant law. The will controls how the estate is administered and divided, and the executor or any beneficiary does not have the right or authority to take any such actions on his or her own.
Don't let time pass, because as you see, your sister is already taking actions that will be difficult if not impossible to undo.
THIS RESPONSE IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE, SINCE I DO NOT HAVE ALL OF THE INFORMATION THAT WOULD BE REQUIRED, AND I DO NOT HAVE A REPRESENTATION AGREEMENT WITH YOU.
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what she did is wrong, and i can stop it.
call me and I will assist,
Robert Davies, Attorney
201 820 3460
Filing for probate is mandatory, and if she didn't do it, it can be compelled. You need a strong estate litigation attorney, preferably located in or near the County of Mom's residence to immediately go into Court and get an Order compelling the probate, stopping the home improvements (unless necessary for safety reasons) and probably having the successor executor appointed in your sister's place.
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