Beneficiary Of My Grandmothers Will

[Brittanyamb50]

My grandma who was a resident of union county, nj past away in 2014, i was 13 at the time. My older brother and i are the beneficiaries of her will. When i turned 18 my brother and i both recieved a chunk of money however we have not received the money from the sale of her house and such, the things that are included in her will. The issue here is my uncle is the executor, and hes been acting so shady. He.never tried to be apart of my life nor reach out to me until i was 18. From what he has said he has the money in a Charles Shwabb investment account. Recently i asked him to send me a copy of the will- he did. However the will appears to be fraudulent. Here's a few reasons i believe that. 1. It states my grandmother was a resident of Hillsboro Florida (she never was, that is for certain) my grandma owned a house in new jersey for 50+ years and resided in PA before that. 2. There is one article in which our last name is spelled incorrectly 3. There are no dates next to any signatures- not even witnesses' signatures. On top of that i cant even read the printed versiom of these peoples names. 4. The "will" he sent me tells u nothing. There are no numbers mentioned, neither my brother or I are mentioned. Basically all it tells you is my uncle is the executor, and my father is up second if something tragic were to happen to my uncle. Theres no trust agreement within the will, its a circle of nothing. I have tried to reach out to lawyers in union county in which alot of times im told i cannot consult about the will without my uncle- the executor. Im only 19, i have no idea what to do. Nothing about this situation sits right with me. What can i do? What should i do? I cant seem to find any answers, and im terrified because its alot of money at stake.

 

[adjusterjack]

Step 1. Get a complete copy of all the documents in the probate case file from the Union County Surrogate Court.

https://ucnj.org/surrogate/

Looks like the court is closed to the general public so call or email to find out how you can get the file. That would include a copy of the probated will.

Since you already got a chunk of money it would appear that a will was filed with the court and successfully probated which means that the copy you got is likely irrelevant. The one in the case file is the one that counts.

Step 2. Find out the status of the house. Look it up at the Union County website:

https://clerk.ucnj.org/UCPA/DocIndex

That will tell if the house is still in your grandmother's name or has been sold. You can also put the address into Zillow's website. If sold, you'll find out when and for how much.

As for the lawyers, well, you're an adult. No reason you shouldn't be able to hire one to protect your interests. Maybe get your brother, or your father, in on this. Meantime, do Steps 1 and 2, then come back and discuss.

 

[TrustUser]

thanks adj for such an informative reply

 

[Brittanyamb50]

Step 1. Get a complete copy of all the documents in the probate case file from the Union County Surrogate Court.

https://ucnj.org/surrogate/

Looks like the court is closed to the general public so call or email to find out how you can get the file. That would include a copy of the probated will.

Since you already got a chunk of money it would appear that a will was filed with the court and successfully probated which means that the copy you got is likely irrelevant. The one in the case file is the one that counts.

Step 2. Find out the status of the house. Look it up at the Union County website:

https://clerk.ucnj.org/UCPA/DocIndex

That will tell if the house is still in your grandmother's name or has been sold. You can also put the address into Zillow's website. If sold, you'll find out when and for how much.

As for the lawyers, well, you're an adult. No reason you shouldn't be able to hire one to protect your interests. Maybe get your brother, or your father, in on this. Meantime, do Steps 1 and 2, then come back and discuss.

Thank you so much for such an informative reply! I gave the office a call in which i was told i need to send them a request to receive a copy of the will via the mail. Im so unfamiliar with this stuff, what should be included in this written request?

 

[adjusterjack]

Here's the link on how to get a copy of the will from the case file:

https://ucnj.org/surrogate/how-to-obtain-a-copy-of-the-will/

I suppose you can ask about other pages but at $3 per page you'll run up a big bill. Might be worth it to just get the will now and then wait until the court is open to review the case file and get copies of only what you need.

 

[Brittanyamb50]

Here's the link on how to get a copy of the will from the case file:

https://ucnj.org/surrogate/how-to-obtain-a-copy-of-the-will/

I suppose you can ask about other pages but at $3 per page you'll run up a big bill. Might be worth it to just get the will now and then wait until the court is open to review the case file and get copies of only what you need.

I have an update- im currently sending out the request of a copy of the will. However my brother received a letter in the mail from Charles Shwabb stating that his account was terminated due to zero balance. Im sure this could mean a few different things but this gets shadier and more stressful everytime i think i have a handle on it. I will be in touch as far as receiving the will and ill let everyone know whats going on.

 

[Dandy Don]

When you get the opportunity, you need to get copies of (or personally look at the documents at the county courthouse surrogate court) the ENTIRE PROBATE FILE so that you can get a complete understanding of how the estate was handled. When you get an attorney you should ask the attorney to ask this executor (IN WRITING, on your behalf) for a copy of the estate tax return and an accounting statement, IF New Jersey state law allows beneficiaries to ask for such documents.