Trusts & estates Attorney in Essex County NJ
Protecting Your Family, Your Assets & Your Legacy
At Catenaro Law, we help individuals and families throughout Essex, Morris, Bergen, Passaic, and Northern New Jersey plan for the future, protect what they have worked a lifetime to build, navigate the probate process, and resolve difficult estate and trust disputes.
Whether you need an estate plan, are concerned about Medicaid and nursing home costs, have been named executor of a loved one’s Will, or are facing a Will contest, trust dispute, or other estate litigation, we provide experienced legal guidance with the personal attention and compassion your family deserves.
Your family. Your assets. Your wishes. Our priority.
Areas of Practice
At Catenaro Law, we focus our practice on four closely related areas of New Jersey law: Elder Law and Medicaid Planning; Estate Planning; Estate and Trust Litigation; and Probate.
By concentrating our practice in these areas, we are able to provide individuals and families with knowledgeable, personalized legal guidance through some of life’s most important—and sometimes most difficult—decisions.
Whether you are planning for your family’s future, concerned about protecting assets from the rising cost of long-term care, administering the estate of a loved one who has passed away, or facing a contested Will, Trust, or inheritance dispute, Catenaro Law is here to help.
LOCATIONS SERVED
Serving clients & families in:
Essex County, including Fairfield, North Caldwell, West Caldwell, Caldwell, Cedar Grove, Roseland, Livingston, Belleville, West Orange, Nutley, Glen Ridge and Montclair;
Morris County, including Montville, East Hanover, Kinnelon, Parsippany, and Florham Park;
Passaic County, including Wayne, Riverdale, Lincoln Park, North Haledon, and Pompton Plains;
Ocean County, including Toms River, Spring Lake, Whiting, Wall Township, and Red Bank;
Bergen County, including Wyckoff, Ramsey, Garfield, Lyndhurst, Teaneck, Ridgewood, and Ridgefield Park.
Popular Services
We prepare Wills, Trusts, Powers of Attorney, Healthcare Proxies, and Advance Healthcare Directives tailored to protect you, your family, and your assets.
We guide executors and administrators through every stage of New Jersey probate and estate administration, from the County Surrogate’s Court through the final distribution of estate assets.
We litigate estate and probate disputes on behalf of beneficiaries, heirs, executors, and administrators in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Chancery Division, Probate Part.
Estate Planning
Protect your family, your assets, and your wishes with a personalized estate plan. We prepare Wills, Trusts, Powers of Attorney, Healthcare Proxies, and Advance Healthcare Directives (Living Wills) designed around your family, finances, and goals.
We tailor estate plans to each client’s goals. Whether a client hopes to enrich the next generation, ensure financial security for their special-needs child, eliminate acrimony between children and spouses from a present or prior marriage, pass assets without being disqualified from medicaid, ensure they have a say at the end of their lives, or relieve family members from making that most difficult decision,
Catenaro Law is the name you can rely on to ensure that your wishes and your future estate are handled competently, professionally and with compassion.
Probate
If you have been named executor in a Will or need to become administrator of an estate when someone dies without a Will, we can guide you through the New Jersey probate process.
We assist executors & administrators in every step of the probate and estate administration process from getting a person appointed executor or administrator by the Surrogate’s Court, marshaling assets, paying debts, getting tax waivers, drafting release and refunding bonds, preparing accountings for final distribution of an estate. Dealing with the loss of a loved one is difficult enough.
Whether your loved one passed with a Will (testate) or without a Will (intestate), let us relieve some of the burden and handle the estate work for you and your family.
Estate Litigation
If you believe a loved one's Will does not reflect their true intentions because of undue influence, lack of testamentary capacity, or other circumstances affecting the validity of the Will, we can represent you in a New Jersey Will contest. We also represent clients defending Wills against challenges.
We represent trustees and beneficiaries in disputes involving the administration of trusts, trustee conduct, distributions, accountings, interpretation of trust provisions, and alleged breaches of fiduciary duty.
We also represent executors, administrators, and trustees who have been accused of breaching their fiduciary duties, as well as beneficiaries who believe a fiduciary has mismanaged assets, engaged in self-dealing, failed to provide information, or otherwise failed to properly administer an estate or trust.
Your family. Your assets. Your wishes. Our priority.
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FAQS
+ Why Do I Need a Will?
A Last Will and Testament is one of the most important documents you can have to protect your family and make your wishes known after your death. Your Will allows you to decide who will inherit your property, who will serve as executor of your estate, and who you wish to nominate as guardian for your minor children.
Without a valid Will, New Jersey law—not you—determines which family members inherit your probate estate and in what proportions. Your family may also face additional uncertainty over who should administer your estate.
A properly prepared Will gives you greater control over what happens after your death and provides your loved ones with clear direction during an already difficult time.
+ What happens when you die without a will in NJ?
When someone dies without a valid Will in New Jersey, they are considered to have died “intestate.” Instead of the deceased person deciding who inherits their estate, New Jersey’s intestacy laws determine which family members are entitled to receive the probate assets and in what shares.
Because there is no Will naming an executor, an eligible person—often a surviving spouse or other family member—may need to apply to the County Surrogate’s Court to be appointed as the estate’s administrator and obtain Letters of Administration. The administrator is then responsible for collecting and protecting estate assets, addressing debts and applicable taxes, and ultimately distributing the estate according to New Jersey law.
Dying without a Will can create additional uncertainty for your family and may result in your assets being distributed differently than you would have chosen. A properly prepared estate plan allows you to decide who will administer your estate and who will inherit your property.
+ What About Wills Sold Online or Apps?
Online services such as LegalZoom and Trust & Will may offer a convenient way to generate estate planning documents, but generating documents is not the same as receiving personalized legal advice from an experienced estate planning attorney. A website cannot fully understand your family dynamics, recognize every potential problem, or sit down with you to ask the questions you may not even know need to be asked.
Your estate plan may determine who protects you if you become incapacitated, who receives everything you worked a lifetime to build, and how your family is protected after you are gone. That is too important to leave to a questionnaire and an algorithm.
+ What Other Documents Should Be Included in My Estate Plan?
A comprehensive estate plan involves much more than a Will. You should also consider a Durable Power of Attorney, Healthcare Proxy, and Advance Healthcare Directive (Living Will) to protect you and your wishes during your lifetime.
A Durable Power of Attorney allows you to appoint someone you trust to handle financial, legal, and property matters on your behalf, including circumstances in which you become unable to manage those affairs yourself.
A Healthcare Proxy allows you to designate a trusted person to make healthcare decisions for you if you are unable to make those decisions yourself. An Advance Healthcare Directive, sometimes called a Living Will, allows you to express your wishes regarding medical treatment and end-of-life care so that your family and healthcare providers have guidance if you cannot communicate those wishes. Without proper lifetime planning documents, your loved ones may encounter significant legal difficulties trying to manage your affairs or make decisions on your behalf, and in some circumstances, court intervention may become necessary.