After my grandfather died in a Midwestern state, leaving a house, a business and what I think was a somewhat sizeable estate, I called an uncle and asked about the will. He was somewhat evasive and said he thought there was a new will leaving everything to a lady friend. Now, my mother and I both received several forms with a "waiver" and an "assent." What should I do?
Do two things. Call the attorney that sent you the papers and ask for their explanation. Then, consult with your own attorney. Never sign anything under any circumstances unless you fully understand the document and all of your questions have been answered. Without knowing all of the facts beyond the summary in your question, I would be committing legal malpractice to speculate on what is going on. Get more answers to your questions.
My wife now lives in New Jersey and we have agreed to all of the terms of a divorce, no kids. We downloaded the forms from an Internet site, completed them and sent them to the New Jersey Court with the filing fee. It was all sent back and we were told I need to sign a consent to jurisdiction. What is that and what else might we be missing?
A basic concept applicable to every court in the country, dating back to the early days after the first courts were established after the signing of the U.S. Constitution, is that a court must have proper jurisdiction before it can do anything. Each state has its own state court jurisdictional rules. Apparently, your wife has lived in New Jersey long enough for that state's courts to exercise jurisdiction over her, but their jurisdiction can only reach out to you if you consent to jurisdiction, by affirmatively accepting jurisdiction.
Jurisdiction is a procedural concept drilled into every law student, and is just one of many issues that arise in even a simple divorce. I cannot know what other legal precepts are glossed over or skipped entirely in a "do-it-yourself" legal kit. I know that while sitting in court waiting for my case to get called on numerous occasions, I have seen courts reject quickie kit cases, because they simply did not include all of the materials that are required by the state statute and procedural rules.
I used to do a cable TV show with another attorney and one show covered this topic. We picked up some do-it-yourself kits and with little effort found numerous defects in divorce and will kits.
If you have to do it yourself, go right to the source. I am not licensed in New Jersey. However, here in New Hampshire, the Family Court has a website with a fairly comprehensive set of forms and explanations. I would rely on a court's own resources long before I went on the Web for legal materials.
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Andrew Myers of Derry has law offices in Derry and North Andover. He is a member of the American Association for Justice and the New Hampshire Trial Lawyers Association. Send questions to andrew@attorney-myers.com.
