Save the Date – Tuesday, May 5, 2020 Archer’s 8th Annual Estate Litigation Seminar  Panelists will include Archer & Greiner attorneys and other experts from outside the firm.  Breakfast will be provided at this complimentary CLE seminar.  More information about topics and registration details coming soon! When: Tuesday, May 5, 2020 | 8:30 AM to 1:00 PM Where: Tavistock Country Club, Haddonfield, NJ 08033   Please mark your calendars to save the date. The post Save …

In re Estate of Stumm, No. A-0655-18T2, 2019 WL 4620342 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. Sept. 24, 2019). This appeal involved the interpretation of a will and the application of N.J.S.A. § 16:11-23 to resolve whether a bequest should pass to The Presbytery of the Palisades and the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. Estate (collectively “the Presbytery”), or to a local church. The decedent, Ruth Stumm, was long-time a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Wood-Ridge (“Church…

Archer partner Steven K. Mignogna has been appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Alicia Rose Victorious Foundation. The Foundation, formed in memory of Alicia Rose DiNatale of Voorhees, N.J., who died at age 17 from a rare form of childhood cancer, provides adolescent programs and activities to enhance the quality of life for hospitalized teens battling cancer and other life-threatening illnesses. Mr. Mignogna previously served on the Foundation’s Board of Advisors. Since its…

The Appellate Division affirmed summary judgment against a party seeking to invalidate a will based primarily on incapacity. The challenger was the decedent’s brother, Frederick Jelin. The decedent initially executed a will with the help of an attorney. The will included specific instructions regarding charitable and other specific bequests she wished to make to a personal aide and to family members. However, she excluded Frederick. Over the next four years, the attorney prepared several draft…

Effective January 1, 2020, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued several Orphans’ Court rule changes including the following: Rule 1.7 added a comment that withdrawal of counsel before the Register of Wills is subject to local rules or the discretion of the Register and may be different from the procedure of withdrawal of appearance in the Orphans’ Court. Rules 1.8 and 10.1 states that forms which differ stylistically, but not in substance, from the court-approved forms,…

(Click here for printable PDF) Under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), a retirement plan participant may file a breach of fiduciary duty claim against a plan fiduciary within 6 years from the date of the breach. If more than 6 years passes, they can no longer bring that claim. This is known as the statute of limitations (SOL). Furthermore, ERISA shortens the SOL to 3 years, if the defendant can prove the participant…

A lawyer who killed his wife claimed that his status as the surviving spouse protected him from being sued by the estate for wrongful death – the Georgia appeals court disagreed. The court said his “argument ignores the fact that he caused his wife’s death, and the law doesn’t authorize a surviving spouse to benefit from his own wrong.” For more information visit: http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/ex-lawyer-who-murdered-his-wife-loses-standing-bid-to-dismiss-estates-wrongful-death-suit In New Jersey, the Slayer’s Act, N.J.S.A. 3B:7–1 et seq., also…