{"id":12697,"date":"2017-09-01T12:57:49","date_gmt":"2017-09-01T16:57:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/?p=12697"},"modified":"2020-04-21T14:48:45","modified_gmt":"2020-04-21T18:48:45","slug":"what-to-do-when-someone-dies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/what-to-do-when-someone-dies\/","title":{"rendered":"What To Do When Someone Dies"},"content":{"rendered":"

A loved one has died.\u00a0 What to do?\u00a0 Whom do I call? Family and friends are all advising.\u00a0 Some are conflicting. Some are warning. \u00a0I feel so stressed.\u00a0 What do I do?<\/p>\n

First Things First: Take Care of Your Family and Yourself<\/u><\/strong><\/h4>\n

Take care of your family and yourself<\/em>. There is nothing to do immediately except this important task.\u00a0 If you skip this step, you will pay for it later, and you will feel emotionally worse.\u00a0 Do not get engrossed in calling employers, insurance companies, pension companies, lawyers or others.\u00a0 A Last Will cannot be probated until ten days after the date of death anyway.\u00a0 Use this time wisely.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Read the Last Will and Testament<\/p><\/div>\n

See a Funeral Director<\/u><\/strong><\/h4>\n

Under New Jersey statute, people can designate who will have control over their remains.\u00a0 This designation must be in their Last Will to be enforceable.\u00a0 Find the Last Will and read it.\u00a0 If someone is named, then that person should contact a funeral director.\u00a0 If not, the funeral director will look to a spouse, then children, to make the necessary arrangements. Receipts for all aspects of the funeral, including flowers and any lunch or dinner, should be kept, as these are deductible against any death tax payable later, and will be reimbursable to you.<\/p>\n

See a Probate Attorney<\/u><\/strong><\/h4>\n

Even if you are sure that you will be able to handle the estate by yourself, it is wise to spend an hour with a probate attorney to get advice before you go out on your own.\u00a0 There\u2019s a saying: \u201cYou don\u2019t know what you don\u2019t know.\u201d There are legal notices that need to go out, deadlines that need to be met, and of course, the issues between family members that need to be addressed.\u00a0 This is also where you can find out if the advice you have been receiving from others is valid.\u00a0 Many times, it is not.\u00a0 Don\u2019t get fouled up.\u00a0 See an attorney.<\/p>\n

Go To The County Surrogate<\/u><\/strong><\/h4>\n

Probate in New Jersey is easy and inexpensive, unlike in many other states.\u00a0 It takes about twenty minutes and usually costs about $150.00.\u00a0 If there is a Last Will, the proposed Executor should take the original Last Will, with a death certificate to the Surrogate\u2019s office in the county where the deceased resided. If there is no Last Will, a family member will have to apply to the Surrogate to become the Administrator. This could be somewhat complicated, but since you will have previously met with an attorney, you will be prepared.\u00a0Once you have \u201cqualified\u201d with the Surrogate, you will be given certificates that prove you are the Executor.\u00a0Now you can administer the estate.<\/p>\n

Law Offices of Robert J. Shanahan, Jr. has assisted hundreds of Executors and administrators. \u00a0It is likely that whatever issue you find yourself facing, SV Law has successfully handled it before, many times over. Because it is important that you not just make a decision, but make the right<\/em> decision, you need SV Law coaching you through this process. \u00a0When can we meet?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A loved one has died.\u00a0 What to do?\u00a0 Whom do I call? Family and friends are all advising.\u00a0 Some are conflicting. Some are warning. \u00a0I feel so stressed.\u00a0 What do I do? First Things First: Take Care of Your Family and Yourself Take care of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[228,24,3007],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12697"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12697"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12697\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legalcounselnj.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}