Articles

Why do you need a will?

In simple terms, a will helps to ensure that your family's needs are met according to your wishes, when you die. ​If you die without a will, therefore without an executor, the court will appoint an administrator. It can take months for this process to be completed and there is no guarantee that your dependents will receive what you may have intended.

by James Carney                                     Thursday, May 13, 2010​

Press of Atlantic City

Dead men do write checks. Often they are for thousands - even tens of thousands - of dollars. They are cashed, and no one is ever the wiser.

Charles Dickens once wrote, "What lawsuits grow out of the graves of right men every day: sowing perjury, hatred, and lies among near kindred, where there should be nothing but love!"



Generally, probate files are located at the Surrogate's Court and are a matter of public record. They're available for all to see. They tell the stories of our neighbors, our relatives and our friends. To some extent, they reveal our dirty laundry, our family squabbles, and, as Charles Dickens wrote, "our perjury, hatred, and lies."



In reality, these files are the life stories of real people we know, people we are about or some we just read about. They are simple folk, celebrities, the known and the unknown. Often their deaths bring forth hidden secrets, amazing stories and true-life adventures. When we die, we may leave behind meager estates or millions of dollars in assets and other valuables that we've accumulated over a lifetime. In New Jersey, the statutes and laws govern how and to whom our estates are to be administered. Absent a valid last will and testament, the decedent's assets are distributed by the laws of intestacy.



Recently, Yung-Ching Wang, of Short Hills, passed away. Listed by Forbes Magazine as one of the 400 wealthiest people in the world, he left an estate valued at approximately $8.5 billion dollars. Yes, that's "billion" with a "b." He left no will, and his estate is currently being battled out in the New Jersey courts.

It's been said that if you don't have a will, then you are chargable with the knowledge that you're leaving a mess behind.



"David" died in Atlantic County, leaving a checking account with a $41,000 balance, real estate and others assets he had gathered over a lifetime. He left no will, and his heirs never completed the administration process of his estate at the Surrogate's Court. Over time, his account became overdrawn. One might wonder how a dead man could write checks from his grave in significant amounts enough to evaporate a relatively large sum. He also left a 24th-floor oceanfront condominium with hundreds of thousands of dollars of equity, and other assets and valuables he had gathered over a lifetime.



The condominium is now in foreclosure, personal items and family treasures have disappeared, as often happens upon the death of a successful individual when no one is looking.



As they say, "You can't take it with you." So assets pass to someone else: those we designate in our wills or those whom the state identifies in intestate succession. And then there are those assets that quietly disappear into the night.



In the days after one's passing, a parade of relatives and others start pouring over the bounty of the decedents personal effects to stake their claim to the goods left behind, much like the $41,000 in David's checking account. How and to whom did it pass?



Eight people will die today in Atlantic County, 56 people this week, 240 people this month and almost 3,000 people this year. Their stories, rich and poor, will be told to a larger or lesser degree in their wills and in the administration of their estates. They are stories of happiness and tears, and, each in their own way, they are a reflection of that person's life.



The Surrogate's Court has been able to identify just how and to whom "David" (after his death) wrote his $41,000 worth of checks. We have established evidence of those transactions and have the matter under review for disposition.

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And no, "David" did not write those checks himself. Just as forensics and modern medical techniques can help identify cold-case victims and perpetrators in crimes, the surrogate utilizes similar advanced methods and techniques to identify financial and probate irregularities and fraud.

When it is so relatively simple, inexpensive and expiditious to follow the statutes and rules, one has to question why some people choose to avoid the legal process. They subject themselves to possible criminal and civil penalties, when all they had to do was just follow the law in the first place. The surrogate and his staff are very willing to assist those in need of these services.

A huge number of similar stories exist, many beyond belief, the final outcomes yet to be told.