Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New Jersey

Re: settlement

Your situation is not simple. Much will depend on the wording of the Will, the other assets in his estate, and other factors. You will likely have a fight in court with the child and his family. You need an attorney who has litigated these types of matters in court, as I have. You will likely have to fight to avoid losing half of the money. Please let me know if I can help you. 973-890-0400. i am on vacation until Aug 15.

Bob Davies

Re: settlement

The law makes parents responsible for the support of their children until those children are able to support themselves. This responsibility does not end at death if at the time you died you had assets. A lot depends on the amount fo the assets, the age(s) of the children and the mother's financial situation.

In general, a person can say in their Will who gets their property when they die and the Courts will honor that unless a law overrules what a Will says. For instance, there is a law that says your fiance's creditors must be paid in full before you or anyone else gets a penny. Look at this as if child support was a debt and the child was a creditor. Actually, the law gives this child more protection than creditors.

Were you financially dependent on your fiance at the time of his death? Are you able to work to support yourself? These are also factors that may be considered by the Court although your case would be stronger if you had been married as there are laws that give spouses a portion of an estate no matter what the Will said.

I would have to know a lot more to say for sure but I think you are relying too much on what the Will says and not giving enough weight to how much value our society places upon adequate support of children. What if he is very bright and eventually gets admitted to Medical School? One half of the money involved won't come close to paying for that and college too even with the best investment plan.

You probably don't want to hear this but if I was the Judge you wouldn't get much sympathy from me. You can count on the child's attorney pointing out that the boy will grow up without a father in his life and trying to make you look like a greedy golddigger who is trying to take advantage of a child whose needs may significant.

You have an attorney who knows all the facts and has given you his/her opinion as to what the Judge will do. If you have doubts, get a second opinion from an attorney familiar with Family law.