Mecca v. Levine, No. A-0548-17T3, 2018 WL 6711343 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. Dec. 21, 2018). This legal malpractice action arose out of the drafting of a will. The Appellate Division addressed whether a ruling in a prior litigation that established the testator’s intent estopped any claim that the defendant attorney breached his duty in […]

Girard v. Foster, No.  A-5190-16T1, 2018 WL 6518667 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. Dec. 12, 2018). This case deals with a legal malpractice claim in the probate context. Plaintiff Anthony J. Girard and his siblings were involved in litigation as to land owned by their mother. Girard and his siblings signed a Consent Order that required […]

Estate of Chernowitz v. Dir., Div. of Tax’n, No. 004863-2017, 2018 WL 6173591 (N.J. Tax Court Nov. 16, 2018). The New Jersey Tax Court addressed whether the decedent’s $5.1 million transfer was in contemplation of her death, such that it triggered New Jersey transfer inheritance tax due pursuant to N.J.S.A. § 54:34-1. In 2012, at […]

Acosta-Santana v. Santana, No. A-5646-16T4, 2018 WL 6332211 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. Dec. 5, 2018). The plaintiff/wife was filing for divorce. The defendant/husband then executed a last will leaving his estate in equal shares for his and the plaintiff’s children. The defendant passed away before the entry of a final judgment of divorce. The […]

In the Matter of the Estate of Kaczmarek, No. A-1356-17T3, 2018 WL 6186536 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. Nov. 28, 2018). Defendant appealed summary judgment admitting the last will of Theodore A. Kaczmarek, deceased (“the decedent”) to probate. The trial court also directed the issuance of letters testamentary to the plaintiffs, as co-executrices, and dismissed […]

In the Matter of the Estate of Cordasco, No. A-4981-16T3, 2018 WL 6186306 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. Nov. 28, 2018). The decedent died intestate. His son  sought appointment as administrator of the estate and an order to invalidate the inter vivos transfer of a condominium to his sister, the decedent’s daughter. Id. at *2.  […]

This action to quiet title sought to set aside deeds on various grounds. The real estate at issue was located in Jersey City, New Jersey.  The deeds involved a decedent who was a resident of Kings County, New York, at death, and so the estate was the subject of probate in Kings County, New York. […]

Cohen v. Perelman, et al., Nos. A-3275-14T4 and A-3286-14T4, 2018 WL 6034978 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. Nov. 19, 2018). This decision is the latest in a series involving the same family dispute. This ruling involved an appeal of the trial court’s finding that the decedent’s July 2009 will was valid and enforceable.  The appeals […]

In the Matter of the Estate of Jones, No. A-2557-16T2, 2018 WL 4471686 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. Sept. 19, 2018).  The Appellate Division addressed the difference between joint accounts and convenience accounts, and the standard for undue influence claims in the context of joint accounts. Erna M. Jones (“decedent”) was married to Walter R. […]

In the Matter of the Estate of Castellano, No. A-0165-17T3, 2018 WL 5810264 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. Nov. 7, 2018).  Approved for publication. While the facts of this case are complex, the issue was whether the only child (“Child”) of an intestate decedent (the “decedent”) could be cut off from inheritance through an “equitable […]