My father passed away in December of 2006 and left no will. My father and mother had been divorced since 1975. My father re-married, but had no children with his second wife.
I was told by my father's second wife that my father had no real money when he died. I was then told that my father had set aside a pinky ring that he wore for me, a necklace for my brother, and a locket for my sister, as keepsakes to his memory. Both my siblings received their keepsakes, but I was given a promissory "Fake" ring in the place of the actual ring to be given to me at a later date. My stepmother said that she wasn't ready to part with the ring, and I was OK with that; after-all everyone grieves in different ways. We were all very upset by my father's sudden unexpected passing and dealing with the emotional consequences.
It's been almost three years since my father's death, and my younger brother was contacted by my stepmother. She had some distorted story of paperwork that had been messed up, and she needed him to convince his other two siblings (Me and my sister) to send a letter to the probate court in the township where my father resided relinquishing all rights to my father's estate. My brother was on vacation at the time, and told her that he couldn't deal with that until he got home. As it turns out my father had two separate bank accounts that were in his name only as well as other joint accounts with my stepmother. There were also bonds taken out in his name only with a "AND" us kids in the language. The two bank accounts (In his name only), at the time of his death, had approximately $215,000.00 between them. I am not what the value of the bonds are, or who the issuer of the bonds are.
My stepmother had hired an attorney right after my father's death to try and gain total access to both my father's sole accounts and the bonds as well. Much to her dismay, her lawyer informed her that there was no legal way for her to dissolve the assets without us children being involved, because as his children we are entitled to half of the portion of the estate that was in his his name only. I guess that under NJ Law she was entitled access to the (Half)portion of the money that is hers, being the estate's administrator. That money along with my father's two life insurance policies, and everything else that was in both their names is now gone, because she has not worked since before my father's death to present. She lived off my father's disability up the time that my father died; not taking care of him mind you, but running the streets from bar to bar with her drunkard friends! The two bank accounts have been frozen by the County Probate Office, because of the length of time it has been since my fathers passing (Two Years and nine months to be exact)! The fact that the assets are frozen is the only reason that us kids were even contacted.
Every time that My brother speaks to our stepmother, more and more details about unresolved assets, accounts, ECT. come to light. My stepmother is always inebriated when we call, and this is when more details about the estate are divulged. She admitted that the bonds have steadily de-valued over the time since my fathers death. The bonds have lost more than twenty-thousand dollars in value over the past three years, and continue to go down with every statement. I know that she is not named on the bonds, because they would have automatically been awarded to her as her property via the rules of survivorship, and they would have been cashed and pissed away like the rest of my father's estate that she had access to. If indeed we children are named, it is my understanding that she has no legal rights to the securities/bonds? The problem is that us children have no access to the bonds, she has them, and only she receives statements from the issuer. We don't even know who the issuer is. If I can find out who the issuer is, do I have legal recourse to find out what language is on the bonds, to establish whom are the rightful heirs? I am not even sure that the issuer has been contacted regarding the death of my father!
Us three children of my father continue to get the run around by our stepmother. We have called the Surrogate's Office to find out the status of probate regarding my father's sole accounts, and they said that they are waiting for my stepmother to submit a probate bond before the process can even begin. It has been almost three years that this has remained unresolved, and I don't think that my stepmother has much incentive to even complete the required steps to get the assets probated and dispersed to us kids. I am sure that she has already spent her share of the estate, and maybe some of assets that were rightfully ours. This has been a roller coaster of emotions for my siblings and I, and I want this situation resolved so we can all go on with our lives! We would sincerely appreciate any suggestions and or advise on the matters outlined in this inquiry. My siblings and I live in New England which makes the situation even more difficult, because my father's estate resides in New Jersey.
I was told by my father's second wife that my father had no real money when he died. I was then told that my father had set aside a pinky ring that he wore for me, a necklace for my brother, and a locket for my sister, as keepsakes to his memory. Both my siblings received their keepsakes, but I was given a promissory "Fake" ring in the place of the actual ring to be given to me at a later date. My stepmother said that she wasn't ready to part with the ring, and I was OK with that; after-all everyone grieves in different ways. We were all very upset by my father's sudden unexpected passing and dealing with the emotional consequences.
It's been almost three years since my father's death, and my younger brother was contacted by my stepmother. She had some distorted story of paperwork that had been messed up, and she needed him to convince his other two siblings (Me and my sister) to send a letter to the probate court in the township where my father resided relinquishing all rights to my father's estate. My brother was on vacation at the time, and told her that he couldn't deal with that until he got home. As it turns out my father had two separate bank accounts that were in his name only as well as other joint accounts with my stepmother. There were also bonds taken out in his name only with a "AND" us kids in the language. The two bank accounts (In his name only), at the time of his death, had approximately $215,000.00 between them. I am not what the value of the bonds are, or who the issuer of the bonds are.
My stepmother had hired an attorney right after my father's death to try and gain total access to both my father's sole accounts and the bonds as well. Much to her dismay, her lawyer informed her that there was no legal way for her to dissolve the assets without us children being involved, because as his children we are entitled to half of the portion of the estate that was in his his name only. I guess that under NJ Law she was entitled access to the (Half)portion of the money that is hers, being the estate's administrator. That money along with my father's two life insurance policies, and everything else that was in both their names is now gone, because she has not worked since before my father's death to present. She lived off my father's disability up the time that my father died; not taking care of him mind you, but running the streets from bar to bar with her drunkard friends! The two bank accounts have been frozen by the County Probate Office, because of the length of time it has been since my fathers passing (Two Years and nine months to be exact)! The fact that the assets are frozen is the only reason that us kids were even contacted.
Every time that My brother speaks to our stepmother, more and more details about unresolved assets, accounts, ECT. come to light. My stepmother is always inebriated when we call, and this is when more details about the estate are divulged. She admitted that the bonds have steadily de-valued over the time since my fathers death. The bonds have lost more than twenty-thousand dollars in value over the past three years, and continue to go down with every statement. I know that she is not named on the bonds, because they would have automatically been awarded to her as her property via the rules of survivorship, and they would have been cashed and pissed away like the rest of my father's estate that she had access to. If indeed we children are named, it is my understanding that she has no legal rights to the securities/bonds? The problem is that us children have no access to the bonds, she has them, and only she receives statements from the issuer. We don't even know who the issuer is. If I can find out who the issuer is, do I have legal recourse to find out what language is on the bonds, to establish whom are the rightful heirs? I am not even sure that the issuer has been contacted regarding the death of my father!
Us three children of my father continue to get the run around by our stepmother. We have called the Surrogate's Office to find out the status of probate regarding my father's sole accounts, and they said that they are waiting for my stepmother to submit a probate bond before the process can even begin. It has been almost three years that this has remained unresolved, and I don't think that my stepmother has much incentive to even complete the required steps to get the assets probated and dispersed to us kids. I am sure that she has already spent her share of the estate, and maybe some of assets that were rightfully ours. This has been a roller coaster of emotions for my siblings and I, and I want this situation resolved so we can all go on with our lives! We would sincerely appreciate any suggestions and or advise on the matters outlined in this inquiry. My siblings and I live in New England which makes the situation even more difficult, because my father's estate resides in New Jersey.
