I/M/O Estate of Di Bella; Di Bella v. Di Bella

A Chancery Division judge has denied an estranged husband’s application to serve as Administrator to his wife’s estate. In this matter, the husband and wife were in the midst of a divorce when she died. The Chancery judge held that, if a plaintiff in a matrimonial matter dies intestate while the divorce complaint is pending, the estranged spouse is barred by, primarily, a conflict of interest, from becoming Administrator of the Estate. The application by the decedent’s son from a previous marriage to serve as Administrator was granted.