If you have been named the executor or administrator of someone's estate, an initial FREE consultation with a lawyer at Casha and Casha, LLC can save you from making costly errors. Remember, as the executor or administrator of an estate you will be the one who will be held personally responsible if the estate is mishandled.

The estate lawyers at Casha and Casha, LLC provide you the guidance you need to ensure that you are on the right path. Why run this risk when the legal fees to protect you will come from the estate proceeds? If you have the correct guidance, contrary to what you may have heard, probate does not have to be a difficult process.

Handling an estate is not something that you do every day. We do. There can be many pitfalls and mistakes made in the process. The fact that you might make an innocent mistake is irrelevant as to whether or not you will be held responsible. A common mistake that many executors make is that they don't send a notice of probate to beneficiaries, as required under New Jersey statutes and rules of court. Estate recovery can also be an issue if the person who died had been receiving Medicaid benefits. Under Medicaid rules, the state of New Jersey has a lien (called estate recovery) on a Medicaid recipient's assets. You may have had no idea that the decedent received Medicaid benefits in the past. However, the state often does not notify executors about this lien until long after the estate has been distributed. If you did not know about the estate recovery process because you did not consult a lawyer, you can be held personally liable for repayment of the lien to the state. The list of requirements and pitfalls goes on and on.

With your assistance, our estate lawyers will handle the estate from the initial consultation to final distribution and filing of Release and Refunding Bonds required by the Surrogate Court, thereby releasing you from liability.

Our lawyers will handle:

• Assisting in the location of hidden assets and insurance contracts
• Notifying beneficiaries per state law
• Advising executors concerning their responsibilities in terms of preserving the estate during the time period when assets are being gathered and distributed
• Determining whether federal or New Jersey estate tax returns need to be filed and the appropriate tax forms to file
• Advising executors about what steps must be taken to fund any trust in a will
• Advising the executor on how to appropriately handle charitable beneficiaries, (For example, few people are aware that the New Jersey Attorney General's Office must be notified when there is a charitable beneficiary.)
• If the deceased person had a trust instead of a will, advising the administrator on the appropriate manner of distribution
• Assisting the executor with the formal or informal accounting that needs to be prepared after the estate has been distributed to the appropriate beneficiaries
• Protecting the executor through a release and refunding bonds, which must be signed by beneficiaries
• Representing the executor or estate in any litigation or other controversy that arises during the probate process, such as will contests

The law firm of Casha and Casha, LLC has extensive experience in resolving problems during the probate process. Some of the more common problems we encounter involve title to real estate, tax issues, reverse mortgages and valuation of property. When these arise, we have the experience needed to resolve them in an efficient manner.

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