Death of a Beneficiary

[jeob]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New Jersey.
My mother was named as a beneficiary in my Uncles will . She passed away last year. My uncle had not changed his will after moms death so my question is what happens to her inheritance?

 

[Kiawah]

Assume that the uncle passed away after your mother.

If that is true, it depends upon the language that your uncle used in his will. It could be your mom's 'share' is distributed to her kids....or it could be that she doesn't get a share anymore because she pre-deceased the uncle. The language in his will would reflect which approach he desired when he set the will up.

 

[jeob]

We have not seen the will, but from what we have been told there are no instructions as to what happens if mom died first which she did.

 

[anteater]

We have not seen the will, but from what we have been told there are no instructions as to what happens if mom died first which she did.

I would interpret New Jersey's anti-lapse statute to mean that your mother's descendants would "stand in her place":

3B:3-35 Anti-lapse; deceased devisee; class gifts.

If a devisee who is a grandparent, stepchild or a lineal descendant of a grandparent of the decedent is dead at the time of the execution of the governing instrument, fails to survive the decedent, or is treated as if he predeceased the decedent, any descendants of the deceased devisee who survives the decedent by 120 hours take by representation in place of the deceased devisee. One who would have been a devisee under a class gift if he had survived the decedent is treated as a devisee for purposes of this section whether his death occurred before or after the execution of the governing instrument. For purposes of this section, a"stepchild" means a child of the surviving, deceased or former spouse who is not a child of the decedent.

 

[Dandy Don]

So talk to a probate attorney to find out for sure.