When a person dies, a process identified as "estate administration" must be carried out. This refers to all the processes which must be followed in distributing a person's estate to their heirs or devisees.

If the decedent wrote a will before his or her death in Highland Park, New Jersey, the process will be carried out according to the directives included in the will, assuming they are legitimate and enforceable.

Frequently, the will appoints an executor whose job it is to oversee the administration of the will.

The executor is frequently the person who will get the most money or property out of the will if it is given effect, because this is the person who will have the greatest incentive to see that the probate process goes as rapidly as possible.

What if The Will Does Not Name an Executor?

If the will in Highland Park, New Jersey does not name an executor, or the decedent left no will to be found, the court has to assign a person to serve as the administrator of the estate.

Typically, this will be the person who has the most to acquire from the will, or who would gain the most under New Jersey's intestacy scheme (the system that distributes the decedent's property to his or her closest living relatives, if he or she dies without a will).

If the will doesn't name a person who is to serve as executor, or the individual named is no longer alive or cannot be found, anyone with a direct interest in the will can apply to the Highland Park, New Jersey court to be the executor.

Once an executor is finally named, he or she becomes responsible for serving as the living embodiment of the estate, utilizing all legal means to protect the estate's interests (such as mounting plausible legal defenses against creditors).

Can a Highland Park, New Jersey Estate Administration Attorney Help?

If you are the administrator of an estate, and are not a legal and/or financial professional, you might confront legal or tax issues with which you are unfamiliar. A Highland Park, New Jersey attorney would be quite helpful in such a situation.