wills and probate

What are my legal alternatives to this situation in New Jersey.

Recently , my sister died. She had a will leaving me $20.000.00. She was
living with my brother for about 30 years. Towards the end of her life
and with the aid of another lawyer, she put my brother on her books
giving 50% of her bank account to him for the purpose of having
monies to withdraw to pay any bills she encountered. The monies were
immediately withdrawn (250,000.00 - 125,000.00) leaving 125,000.00.
She was put in a nursing home and then died 3 weeks later. After her
death , the will was probated and me and my other sister was supposed to
receive 20,000.00 a piece from the remaining 125.000.00.
All bills have been paid off, there are no other parties involved
with the estate that have an interest in the remaining monies.
There is money left above and beyond 40,000.00.
The will was probated and all the remaining monies were given to my brother
to distribute at his discretion. The trouble is, he is not distributing it
according to the last will and testament of my sister. This has been going
on for months now about (12). He keeps on coming up with excuse after
excuse why he can give us our monies due. Some excuses are as follows:
I'm waiting for the lawyer to give me the OK to distribute.
Well guess what, we called the lawyer and he said that as far as he
is concerned the case is closed. My other sister threatened to sue,
so he says I must sit and wait till I see what she will do.
I'm feeling sick today (even though he isn't) and I can't go to the
bank to give you your monies. My bother is 86 years old,
I am 81 years old, and my other sister is 64 years old. My brother is
very secretive with his monies. No one knows where or anything about
his finances. He is not married and has no kids. He has no will.
I just want my monies due as per the last will and testament of my
departed sister. What can I do ???

Questions :

1). Is there a time limit where if I don't act (legally) I will lose
any monies due me as per last will and testament of my sister.
2). Should I pursue action and start a lawsuit against my brother
when I don't have a copy of the will, but my brothers lawyer
does and the will was probated.
3). I don't want to make this an expensive drawn out situation
are there any other things I can do to force distribution
of the monies according to last will and testament.
I thought the lawyer was supposed to do this. ( the one who
probated the will)


Robert Carchidi (son in law)
[email protected]
c/o My father in law

AUG. 20, 2001

DEAR BOBCAR:

You have left out some crucial information in regards to your situation.

Who is the official executor of the estate? It is THAT PERSON (it could have been your brother, or it could have been the attorney), whoever was named officially by the court, who will have the authority to decide how the $40,000 is to be distributed.


It is very odd that you have not seen the will yet, as you should have been officially given a copy of it by the executor or at least you should have been notified when it would have been coming up before the probate court to be heard.

You need to check at the county courthouse (of the city where your sister died) to see if the will has been filed (from your description, it almost surely has been), and visit the county courthouse to look at the probate file to see what activity has taken place (financial records, etc.) in regards to this estate. If the estate is still open, you can at least get a copy of the will to see what it says and you can also find out who the official executor is (the probate file will have legal papers in it , called letters testamentary, that will show the name of the person who is named by the court to be the executor).

Find out from the clerk at the probate court whether it is required that executors be bonded in New Jersey. If the answer is yes, you can file a claim with the bonding insurance company to be paid the $40,000 if you can prove it has been stolen by the executor. If the answer is no, then under any circumstances, you need to get an attorney to represent your interests, by officially contacting the brother by mail to inquire about the distribution of the $40,000. I think your brother will be prompted to act more responsibly if he finds out that he may face legal action or investigation.

It should be reasonably inexpensive to find an attorney to represent you--you may not even need a probate attorney, maybe any attorney or one specializing in business law could get the job done. Just get an estimate from more than one attorney. You need to do it as soon as possible so you have a better chance of collecting some money if he hasn't already spent it yet, and even if he has, you can still go after him to find out what his bank accounts are or have him sell his house to pay you the $40,000.

AUG. 23, 2001

DEAR BOBCAR:

Keep us posted about your situation, as we are very interested in a successful outcome for you. Let us know if you do eventually receive your $40,000 and what you did to get it.

SINCERELY,

[email protected]