In re Estate of Liu, No. A-5063-18T1, 2020 WL 3527328 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. June 30, 2020). After James Liu failed to appear before the court, the Appellate Division affirmed the Chancery Division’s order dismissing his complaint contesting his father’s will. Decedent, Thomas Liu, died in December 2018 and was survived by his two […]

Balducci v. Cige, 240 N.J. 574  (2020) A former client filed an action against her former attorney for a declaratory judgment that the retainer agreement with him to represent her in a suit for damages under a Law Against Discrimination (LAD) lawsuit was unenforceable. The trial court declared the agreement unenforceable and dismissed the attorney’s […]

In re Estate of DeConca, A-1876-18T1, 2020 WL 1492556 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. Mar. 27, 2020). This case highlights the need to ensure that charitable entities are correctly identified in estate planning documents. The co-executors of the estate filed a complaint seeking direction as to which charitable organization was the intended beneficiary of the […]

Estate of Van Riper v. Div. of Taxation, No. 082000, 2020 WL 558624 (N.J. Feb. 5, 2020). The Supreme Court affirmed the interpretation of New Jersey’s transfer inheritance tax statute that taxed the full value of a property transferred into an irrevocable trust, upon the death of the second spouse. Walter and Mary Van Riper […]

In re Estate of Hursa, A-4801-17T1, 2020 WL 914706, (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. Feb. 26, 2020). The plaintiff and her sister were the co-administrators of their mother’s estate.  The sister had lived in the mother’s house from 2007 until her death in 2012.  The plaintiff sued for breach of fiduciary duty, declaratory judgment, unjust […]

In re Estate of Hauke, A-5200-17T3, 2020 WL 1488675, (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. Mar. 25, 2020). Co-executors in accounting action were not permitted to rely on a release, because they did not raise the release until the end of the trial, and the release did not apply anyhow.  In addition, co-executors were not entitled […]

In re Estate of Stumm, No. A-0655-18T2, 2019 WL 4620342 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. Sept. 24, 2019). This appeal involved the interpretation of a will and the application of N.J.S.A. § 16:11-23 to resolve whether a bequest should pass to The Presbytery of the Palisades and the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. Estate (collectively “the Presbytery”), or […]

The Appellate Division affirmed summary judgment against a party seeking to invalidate a will based primarily on incapacity. The challenger was the decedent’s brother, Frederick Jelin. The decedent initially executed a will with the help of an attorney. The will included specific instructions regarding charitable and other specific bequests she wished to make to a […]

Effective January 1, 2020, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued several Orphans’ Court rule changes including the following: Rule 1.7 added a comment that withdrawal of counsel before the Register of Wills is subject to local rules or the discretion of the Register and may be different from the procedure of withdrawal of appearance in the […]

In re Estate of Forgett, No. A-0443-17T4, 2019 WL 4165062 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. September 3, 2019 Lisa Farina, a creditor of the estate, appealed orders declaring the estate to be insolvent, approving the estate’s final account, and directing distribution of the estate’s assets. Farina argued that (i) her judgment against the estate had […]