Best Adoption Lawyers in Edison, NJ

Estate planning is often overlooked and neglected by most individuals. While it's hard to think about what will happen after we pass away, it's an important matter that shouldn't be ignored. If you don't have an estate plan, your assets and property are distributed according to state laws, which may not coincide with your wishes. In this blog post, we'll explore the consequences of not having an estate plan in New Jersey, what probate is and how it works, and how an attorney can help. If you pass away without an estate plan, your assets and property will go through the probate process. Probate is the court-supervised process of settling and distributing a deceased person's assets and property. In New Jersey, such proceedings usually take at least a year, but they can often be delayed for much longer. During the probate process, your assets will be distributed according to the state's intestacy laws. These laws list out the hierarchy of potential heirs, which starts with spouses and children, followed by parents, siblings, grandparents, and so on. If you have no living heirs, your assets will go to the state of New Jersey. If you don't have an estate plan, you may have to pay higher estate taxes. In New Jersey, the state estate tax exemption, which is the amount an individual's estate is allowed to be worth before taxes are imposed, is only $675,000. If your estate is worth more than that, it will be subject to estate taxes.