Source
r/legaladvice•
PhasersSetToKill

[New Jersey] Uncle stealing entire estate.

My grandfather passed away over a year ago with no will. After he passed my uncle and his wife are actively attempting to just take everything that he owned. Home they have locked up and won't give my father access, Cars, valuables, bank accounts, everything. Uncle has stopped responding to communications from my father his brother. My father has tried to contact lawyers, but they all want insane amounts of money that we don't have. As it is it seems he is just going to get away with the theft because we can't afford a lawyer. What should my father's course of action be?

Posted Jan 18, 2023, 10:52 PM UTC

194
Arudin88Quality Contributor•

Need to sit down with a probate attorney

They’ll work with you on a payment plan

13
Giant_Alien_Spiders•

they all want insane amounts of money that we don't have.

What is this amount? Keep trying. If there is money in the estate an attorney will know it would be low risk to take on the case. If you need more attorney referrals, contact the state bar association and ask for referrals to an estate attorney.

4
whatever212abc•

Has probate been opened on the estate? Is it possible your uncle is the executor in which case locking up the home and securing the other assets is part of his responsibility?

1
deangelo88•

Do you have an estimate of what the value of the estate was before the uncle started taking the assets?

Did your grandfather own his own home or was he paying a mortgage on it?

Your father doesn't have to pay a large upfront retainer fee.

Administrator fee in New Jersey is 5% of estate value up to $200,000, plus 3.5% of the next $800,000. Administrator fee is paid out of whatever assets have been put into the estate account.

In order to attract an attorney willing to do a probate case, you need to have some type of estimate of the value of the estate.

If you can't find an attorney willing to open up probate, then your father (or someone he trusts who is financially savvy and has common sense) should file the paperwork at the county surrogate court to get the estate open. Soon after filing, the administrator will be sent a document called letters testamentary, which will give the administrator the legal authority to find out information about all assets. Administrator will be able to find out how much money was in the bank accounts, for example.

It's kind of difficult to understand how the bank would have paid out money from the bank account to the uncle, unless uncle's name was on the account as a beneficiary onr joint co-owner.

The administrator will then be able get counsel/advice from a probate attorney on an as-needed basis, by paying an hourly fee. And the probate attorney should be able to advise about how to get back the assets taken by your uncle.

Since there is no will, the estate is going to be divided between all of the children of your grandfather.

1