Curcio running for another term as county surrogate
Page 4 • Wednesday, January 22, 2020 • The Hammonton Gazette
CURCIO, from Page 1
William & Mary Law School—
served 16 years as atlantic County
freeholder, but feels he has found
his calling as surrogate.
“i’m a lawyer. i’ve always been
interested in wills and estates, and
this combines two of my favorite
interests, which are law and poli-
tics, so i thought it would be a
good position for me,” Curcio
said.
the surrogate’s office, Curcio
said, determines the validity of
wills and appoints personal repre-
sentatives to estates, whether there
is a will or not. additionally, the
surrogate acts as the deputy clerk
of the superior court for litigated
estates, as well as guardianships
and adoptions.
“the surrogate is considered the
judge of the surrogate’s court
when a matter is not contested
within the family. in those types of
cases, the surrogate has authority
under the statute to make deci-
sions, and also, if there’s no will,
to appoint a personal representa-
tive who’s fit to handle the estate,”
Curcio said.
if, however, there is any conflict
among family members, or if the
case involves difficult issues of
law, the surrogate cannot conduct
a trial. the surrogate would then
have to decline jurisdiction, and
the matter would go before the su-
perior court.
Curcio outlined the process his
office follows for estates.
“the first thing we do is look to
the statute. there’s a statute called
intestate succession. When there is
no will, the next of kin are entitled
to the estate, and it’s usually set up
in a certain order, which would be
spouse, then children, parents then
siblings, in order of priority. that’s
the starting point. Oftentimes, the
person who would be first entitled
is not interested, and, in that case,
the surrogate can accept a renun- we’re trying to outreach with. We
ciation and appoint someone else are there, always, to help after the
if there’s an agreement amongst fact, but we like to be proactive to
get people information while their
the family,” Curcio said.
if there is no family, Curcio loved ones are still with us and
said, then the surrogate, after 40 able to make plans,” Curcio said.
Curcio said that much of the
days, is entitled to appoint any fit
person who satisfies the criteria in successes of the surrogate’s office
the statute. that would normally is due to the staff that works there.
“for what we try to do here,
require posting a corporate surety
bond to ensure that the individual we’re blessed to have a very car-
ing staff. it’s been a
going to carry out
long tradition, even be-
their duties.
fore i got here, to have
“if we can’t do it,
a really caring and at-
then the case has to
tentive staff that works
go to superior
at the office. What i’ve
court. in that case,
tried to emphasize is
the surrogate would
that we need to be
be the clerk and
problem-solvers, so
will accept the pa-
that where there’s a
pers, then the case
grey area in the law, we
has to go to court. i
have to try to help peo-
would go to court
ple to achieve what it is
with the superior
they’re doing, for the
court judge, but he
good of the estate. i
or she is the deci-
James Curcio
think that that’s one of
sion maker. the
the benefits of having
clerk is just assisting
with the case at that point,” Curcio been here for almost 10 years. i
learn something new every day,
said.
ideally, though, there would be and i think we are developing new
ways of helping people work
a will.
“the best kind of estate is through some of the difficult is-
where there’s a will, because that sues that arise upon the death or
spells out who the testator—the incapacity of a loved one,” Curcio
person who made the will— said.
Besides estate work, Curcio said
wanted to be in charge of their es-
that much of the rewarding work
tate,” Curcio said.
Curcio also said that the surro- comes through the surrogate’s
gate’s office has been doing more other responsibility: adoptions.
“the most joyful part of the job
outreach work to educate people
about estate planning in an effort are the adoptions. to see a child
to head off some of the difficulties oftentimes coming out of difficult
that happen when a loved one circumstances to get a forever
passes who hasn’t prepared any- home has been a big theme of our
court in atlantic City. it’s some-
thing in advance.
“i try to keep abreast of all de- thing that i love to be involved
velopments in funeral planning, with,” Curcio said.
atlantic County executive Den-
basic estate planning, living wills
and advance directives for health nis Levinson supports Curcio
“there is no harder working
care. those are the areas that
Surrogate anywhere than Jim Cur-
cio. the services provided by the
Surrogate’s office are consistently
excellent,” Levinson said. Curcio resides in Hammonton
with wife Jessica. they have four
sons (John, 25; tim, 23; Danny,
20 and Neil,15).
COUPONS, from Page 3
leniency clause because of travel
or relocation. if you’re in the mil-
itary, a lot of stores have policies
where they will accept expired
coupons. that is their way of
granting that leniency,” Mc-
Gaffney said.
McGaffney also noted that there
is a degree of etiquette that comes
with couponing.
“We always say that you should
at least leave a little something on
the shelf for other customers. i,
personally, frown on people who
go and clear out a whole shelf,”
McGaffney said.
to avoid such behavior, Mc-
Gaffney suggested planning shop-
ping around sales cycles for
non-food items, which usually run
in three-month cycles.
“Buy a three-month supply.
that will hold you until it goes on
sale again,” McGaffney said.
Many discount websites, like
Hautelook and Beyond the rack,
are excellent places to find tempo-
rary bargains.
“they’re only temporary sales;
flash sales. they go up for three
days and then they come down,”
McGaffney said.
McGaffney also talked about
couponing at local stores like
Shoprite, which recently updated
its coupon policy.
“they will no longer accept
multiple coupons for a single
product. if you sign into their site,
you can put digital coupons right
on your PricePlus card. So if go, and you have a manufacturer
coupon and a store coupon, they
will only accept one. they’ll go
with whichever of the two is
greater. Whatever has the better
savings, they’ll accept,” Mc-
Gaffney said.
Shoprite also doubles coupons.
“Hammonton Shoprite will
double a paper coupon up to $1. if
you have a $.50 coupon, it auto-
matically jumps up to $1. if you
have a $.75 coupon, they pay that
extra quarter. that’s really cool; if
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McGaffney also pointed out that
Walmart allows overages on
coupons.
“if the coupon exceeds the value
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applied to the rest of the order or
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item itself and there’s nothing else
for it to cover, they will hand you
cash back for the product. that’s
pretty amazing. Walmart is the
only store, out of all the research i
did, that will actually hand you
cash back,” McGaffney said.
McGaffney closed her presenta-
tion by encouraging those in atten-
dance to participate in a coupon
swap.
Stockton University’s Kramer
Hall is host to many events
throughout the year. for more in-
formation, visit stockton.edu/
kramer/upcoming-events.html.
Couponing is a way for
families to save money