Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New Jersey

Re: trust

Do you have any idea where the account was located? Was there any mention of the account in your uncle's Will? It sounds like your uncle may have had an account registered either in joint names with his sister or in her name alone, but in either event naming you and your sister as "in trust for" beneficiaries. This type of account registration would allow you and your sister to get the funds after your aunt's death, if there were any funds remaining in the account when she died. The difficulty is that if your uncle's name was not on the account you would have a hard time tracing the funds that created the account to establish the "trust" for your benefit. Plus, as an "ITF" account in your aunt's name, unless you could prove it was intended to act like a true trust (with fiduciary duties and responsibilities on his sister) she would have the right to change the registration at any time before her death, as ITF only applies when one dies. Thus, she could change the account to her name only and then dispose of it by her Will. This would break the ITF registration and you would have no rights to the balance when she died. If you have anything from your uncle, in writing, verifying this, it is imperative that you act before his sister dies to recreate the ITF account, or risk losing any balance. This would require you to sue his sister now, or her estate (much more difficult) when she dies. On the issue of contesting the Will while someone is alive, this would probably be denied by the Court at this time and be deferred until she actually died. I had a case recently on this issue. More importantly, if she is currently incapacitated (incompetent), it might be worth the consideration of having one of her nieces appointed as guardian for her. This could resolve the question of the ITF account, if you could make a deal with her nieces.