Losing a loved one is a painful experience. It can feel even more confusing when the person you planned to leave your estate to passes away before you do. Many families worry about what happens next and whether the courts will still honor their final wishes.
How a will handles this situation
If you have a valid will, the outcome often depends on its wording. Many wills in New Jersey include backup beneficiaries, also called contingent beneficiaries. These are the people who inherit if your first choice dies before you.
Even if your will does not have a backup, New Jersey has a safety net called the anti-lapse statute. If your heir was a close relative and they left behind children of their own, your gift usually passes to those children automatically. This prevents the gift from failing or disappearing simply because you did not include specific legal phrases, such as per stirpes.
What happens if there is no will
If you die without a will, New Jersey’s intestate succession laws decide who inherits. The law looks for your closest living relatives. To inherit, a relative must survive you by at least 120 hours. The court follows a specific order: first a spouse, then children, then parents and then siblings.
Your estate only goes to the State of New Jersey if the court cannot find any living relatives, including distant cousins.
Why reviewing your plan matters
Life changes quickly. Births, deaths and marriages can all affect your plan. Reviewing your documents ensures your property goes exactly where you want it to go.