Accountant or probate lawyer to settle estate?

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NJ


Quick question...would it be better to use an accountant or a lawyer to help us settle my MIL's estate? If we went with an accountant, it would be the one my MIL used for years, so he knows about all of her finances. Or, should we go with a lawyer, because this situation is very complicated since my FIL is in jail awaiting trial for her murder? We would hope that most of the debts would just be passed to him since a lot of their accounts were jointly held.

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

A lawyer is what is needed to get thru probate.

Get both. The lawyer will handle the legal issues and the accountant will handle the....accounting. If you pay an attorney for the accounting work, you'll be paying a less skilled person more dollars per hour to get the work done.

Thank you!!

By “help “settle” you obviously mean help probate your mother-in-law’s estate. And the question is not who would be better, but rather which of the two professionals would be authorized by New Jersey law to appear and represent the administrator of the deceased’s estate in the appropriate New Jersey Surrogates Court.

So the first order of business is to hire the attorney. Because only a New Jersey licensed attorney would be authorized to represent the administrator in the course of probating your mother-in-law’s estate. And I assume that one or more of her surviving children will be applying for appointment to that position.

Also, it’s probably a bit premature to be thinking about the expenses of an accountant. Let the attorney decide if those services will be required.

The attorney will also be able to advise you of the consequences of the homicide under the New Jersey statute * and how proof that the killing was intentional needs to be presented to the surrogate court in order to effectively forfeit the rights of the surviving husband to succeed to any part of the deceased’s estate.

And explain to you that forfeiture under that NJ statute only applies “with respect to the decedent's estate.” And not to any of his vested interest in marital property.

Also, your hoping to pass the joint debts off to the incarcerated husband and thus avoid the estate as being responsible to those creditors is not likely to come to pass.

The point I’m trying to make here is that there are bigger fish to fry than being immediately concerned with the services of an accountant.


[*] N.J.S.A. Section 3B:7-1.1 Effect of intentional killing on intestate succession, wills, trusts, joint assets, life insurance and beneficiary designations.

I completely agree with latigo. Also, depending on the particular circumstances, it might be better to have the attorney hire the accountant in order to get some attorney/client protections on information the executor provides.

"The attorney will also be able to advise you of the consequences of the homicide under the New Jersey statute * and how proof that the killing was intentional needs to be presented to the surrogate court in order to effectively forfeit the rights of the surviving husband to succeed to any part of the deceased’s estate."


Does this mean that a conviction has to be made in order for this to happen? If not, what kind of proof (that our lawyer would be privy to) can be offered to show that the killing was intentional?

Also, you stated that the jointly held debts would be the responsibility of the estate....does that also mean any jointly held checking/savings accounts would go to the estate as well?

You'll have to forgive me if I am asking questions that you have already answered....I am just trying to get a handle on this and have no clue what should happen.

My brother-in-law and I do have an appointment with an attorney tomorrow, so I am hoping we will get all of our questions answered.

Thanks again!

scarlett1033 said:

Does this mean that a conviction has to be made in order for this to happen? If not, what kind of proof (that our lawyer would be privy to) can be offered to show that the killing was intentional?

Also, you stated that the jointly held debts would be the responsibility of the estate....does that also mean any jointly held checking/savings accounts would go to the estate as well?

You'll have to forgive me if I am asking questions that you have already answered....I am just trying to get a handle on this and have no clue what should happen.

My brother-in-law and I do have an appointment with an attorney tomorrow, so I am hoping we will get all of our questions answered.

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These are all good topics to discuss with the attorney.

3B:7-6. Effect of final judgment of conviction.

3B:7-6. A final judgment of conviction establishing responsibility for the intentional killing of the decedent is conclusive for purposes of this chapter. In the absence of such a conviction the court may determine by a preponderance of evidence whether the individual was responsible for the intentional killing of the decedent for purposes of this chapter.

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