Dunellen, NJ Estate Planning Law Firms & Lawyers

If everyone is a class C beneficiary, then everyone will pay taxes.  The only reason the attorney will have to go into the house is to prepare and inventory and /or an appraisal of the contents of the house for taxation purposes.  

The reason you will have to go to probate is to be able to deal with her assets, even though the assets have very little value.  The way that you will get the authority to do this is by probating her will.  Probate is VERY easy and will cost probably no more that $200.  You will then be given letters testamentary which will be evidence that you are the person who has been given the authority.  Having those letters will allow you to sell the car, and dispose of everything.  Because there is no beneficiary named on the life insurance policy, that police will be made payable to the estate, and you will be responsible for distributing the proceeds the way your grandmother wanted.  After probate, reimburse yourself for any costs, pay her last debts, open an estate account at a bank, deposit the proceeds of the life insurance and what ever you get for the sale of the car, and then distribute everything to the people named in the will.