E596 1. Can a Will be filed with the Surrogate prior to death? No
2. Post Will instructions & thank you to past clients
3. Clients, friends, attorneys please write a good review on Google
4. Our excellent Summer 2020 Law Clerk team photo!
5. Drunk driver statements and arrest proper where wife let police into house
E596 1. Can a Will be filed with the Surrogate prior to death? No
Wills are not filed prior to death with the NJ Surrogate prior to death. The original Will is typically held by the person signing the Will, or given by the person to their Executor 1. There is no free public access depository for Wills in NJ, NY or PA.
A Will cannot be accepted for probate by the County Surrogate until after death Under New Jersey law, the executor must wait 10 full days after a death to probate a will.
An Executor may submit the application prior to expiration of the 10-day period. The Surrogate then must sit on the papers until the end of ten days. If the Will is filed after the 10-day waiting period, many Courts will issue a judgment for probate the same day with the filing of the probate papers.
NJSA 3B:3-22. Time for probate of Will; preliminary filing
No will shall be admitted to probate until after 10 days from the death of the testator; but the complaint and other papers in any action for the probate of a will may be filed, and the depositions of the witnesses thereto and the qualification of the executor or administrator with the will annexed may be taken at any time subsequent to the death of the testator and before the will is admitted to probate .
NJ Rule 4:80-1 c) Filing. The application for the probate of a will or for letters of administration shall be filed with the Surrogate's Court of the county in which the decedent was domiciled at death, or if at that time the decedent was not domiciled in this State, then with the Surrogate's Court of any county in which the decedent left any property or into which any property belonging to the decedent's estate may have come.
A scanned Will cannot be admitted to probate by the Surrogate.
2. Post Will instructions & thank you to past clients
I thank over 4,000 people we have helped out or prepared Wills since I opened my office. At the end of every case we send our Post Will or end of case instructions. This is a helpful reminder:
"Thank you again for allowing my office to be of service to you. I am writing this letter to you in order to give you and all my clients several important reminders regarding your Will and things related to it. Please be sure, therefore, to keep this letter with your copy of your Will.
If prior clients misplaced their post will letter, this is a handy reference:
We have given you the Original signed Will to take home. Only the original Will can be admitted to probate by the Surrogate. Please advise your Executors where the original Will is going to be stored.
After documents are signed, for record keeping, it is a good idea to scan and email scanned copies of your documents to family, Executors, Trustee, Guardian and children if appropriate. Also email the Living Will to doctors.
if the documents were not signed in the law office we recommend you email documents signed to the attorney who drafted the documents. Many people are signing on weekends or evening at the UPS store with their own witnesses.
Additionally, please provide your Executor with our law office's name and instruct your Executor to contact us prior to going to the Surrogate's Office or probating a Will. Provide a copy of your Power of Attorney to your Accountant and Financial Advisor.
If you have a Living Will, please be sure to give a copy to your Doctor and family. You may also wish to obtain copies of your life insurance beneficiary designation, IRA/ 401k/ SEP designation forms and include in your Will folder. Some clients also prepare a list of online passwords for accounts and digital assets.
If you ever want to discuss your Will with me, I will be happy to do this with you at any time after scheduling an appointment.
recommend that you review your Will periodically in order to keep it up-to date regarding changes in your family, your property, your wishes, and the law. I suggest that approximately five (5) years from signing the Will, you contact my office and schedule an appointment again so that we can review your estate planning.
Please do not let this periodic review program prevent you from considering the making of a change in your Will at any earlier date. Changes should be made whenever you believe such changes are necessary. A person's family, property, addresses and wishes may change over the years and for these and other reasons you should re-examine your will from time to time in order to make sure that it will carry out your present wishes.
Never write on your original Will or making any marks because this can lead to a Will contest and the Surrogate may not accept the marked up Will. If you want to make a change in your Will, please contact my office.
You should prepare a Post Will Letter of Instruction to your Executor and family. We provided a free form at www.njlaws.com/letters_of_instruction.htm
In the event that a death occurs in your family, may I suggest that you contact my office immediately in order to determine what, if anything, must be done in order to settle that person's estate. I also suggest that you instruct your Executor and the members of your family to contact my office immediately, in the event of your death, in order to determine what, if anything, must be done to settle your estate.
We look forward to helping you, your family and friends in the future. If you have any suggestions for the improvement of my Will and estate planning services, please let me know what they are..
We welcome additional business and accept referrals for:
1) Personal Injury- Car Accidents
2) Probate/ Administration of Estates
3) Wills, Power of Attorney, Living Wills and Estate Planning
4) Municipal Court, Traffic Tickets and DWI & Criminal cases
5) Injuries caused by Fall downs
6) Civil Litigation for cases over $15,000.
Please pass my office's phone number to your family and friends who do not have a current Will or Power of Attorney. Our Confidential Will Questionnaire for other clients is online at www.njlaws.com/will_Questionnaire.html
3. Clients, friends, attorneys please write a good review on Google
https://www.google.com/#q=Kenneth+Vercammen&lrd=0x89c3c87ea72dbd57:0xdbd3622846daeec9,1
You can also email comments and we can help post for you.
- Recommend us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Kenneth-Vercammen-Associates-PC-Law-Office-Edison-NJ-08817-149816077985/
- Write a good review on Yelp https://www.yelp.com/biz/kenneth-vercammen-and-assoc-attorney-at-law-edison
-Write a good review on Avvo https://www.avvo.com/review-your-lawyer
Attorneys who we have helped can also forward positive comments to us for our online reviews.
To improve our service to clients, ask clients to fill out the Client Questionnaire that is forwarded to us.
http://www.njlaws.com/client_questionnaire.php?id=104
If you, friends and co-workers need an attorney, please contact us immediately. We shall do our best to justify your recommendation. As a free additional service to you we will hold your file in storage for seven years. All confidential papers will be destroyed after that time.
4. Our excellent Summer 2020 Law Clerk team photo!
Xenovia Bartholomew Northeastern Law
Anthony Raccuia Tulane Law
Gregory Youssef Rutgers Law Newark
& Kenneth Vercammen
back row Patrick J Foy Seton Hall Law
Alexander Romero St. Joseph's University
Reyadh Nagi Hofstra Law
5. Drunk driver statements and arrest proper where wife let police into house State v. Kearstan N.J. Super. App. Div. unreported
Defendant appealed his DWI conviction. Defendant arrived at the marital home with damage to his car and a missing mirror. His wife called 911, reported he was in the basement, had an alcohol issue and was intoxicated. Officer went to the house to conduct a welfare check, wife invited officer into the house and officer saw defendant staggering, having difficulty pulling up his pants and smelling of alcohol. Officer noted defendant needed assistance to simply stand up. Officer and defendant went outside to talk away from the children and officer noticed defendant's bloodshot eyes and slurred speech. Defendant admitted to having several drinks. Officer administered field sobriety tests, arrested defendant and a blood draw showed a BAC of 0.29 percent.
Defendant moved to suppress the blood alcohol test and his incriminating statements. Trial court denied the suppression motion, finding wife invited officer into the home, the warrantless entry was justified under the community-caretaker and emergency-aid doctrines and the questioning was similar to a preliminary roadside drunk driving investigation.
Defendant argued removing him from his home was improper and his inculpatory statements were obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment. The Appellate Court agreed with trial court that officer lawfully entered the house at wife's invitation and defendant's incriminating responses were the result of a proper investigatory interrogation.
Source https://www.law.com/njlawjournal/almID/1569032182NJA586717T/
6. Final reminder
July 29, 2020 Seminar Remove & Expungement of NJ Criminal Arrests and Convictions- Free Seminar from 4:50pm-5:25
Location: Law Office of Kenneth Vercammen, 2053 Woodbridge Ave, Edison, NJ 08817
New Expungement Law took effect 2020
To attend email VercammenLaw@Njlaws.com
