First Steps After a Death in New Jersey

A medical professional must pronounce the death. If death was expected under hospice, the hospice nurse can pronounce; if unexpected, call 911. Then choose a licensed New Jersey funeral home or cremation provider to transport and care for your loved one. The funeral director files the death record with the local registrar of the municipality where the death occurred.

Lock the residence, keep utilities and insurance active, and leave property where it is until authority and ownership are clear. Do not remove or give away household items before the Surrogate appoints an executor or administrator. New Jersey reserves the decedent's wearing apparel and personal property up to $5,000 for the family under N.J.S.A. 3B:16-5, but claiming that exemption requires an inventory and appraisal, so nothing should be scattered first.

The Surrogate needs the ORIGINAL signed will, not a copy. Probating a copy requires a Superior Court action. Look also for codicils, trusts, deeds, vehicle titles, account statements, beneficiary designations, and life insurance policies. New Jersey sets no deadline for offering a will for probate and no penalty schedule for delay, but the inheritance tax and creditor clocks both run from the date of death whether or not anyone has filed.

Certified copies come from the New Jersey Office of Vital Statistics and Registry or from the LOCAL REGISTRAR of the municipality where the death occurred, which is usually the faster route for a recent death. The state office charges $25 for the initial search and one certified copy, then $2 for each additional copy of the same record ordered at the same time. Municipal registrar counter fees are set locally. Order generously: the Surrogate, every bank and brokerage, insurers, pension plans, the Motor Vehicle Commission, and any real property transfer each want one.

New Jersey probate opens with the elected SURROGATE of the county where the decedent lived at death. There are 21 county Surrogates and no independent cities. The Surrogate admits an uncontested will, issues letters testamentary or letters of administration, and issues short certificates. A contested matter, a caveat filed before probate, a doubtful or lost will, a formal accounting, or an elective-share claim goes instead to the Superior Court, Chancery Division, Probate Part.

List what the decedent owned and how each item was titled. Beneficiary-designated accounts, life insurance payable to a named person, joint survivorship accounts, property held by spouses as tenants by the entirety, and trust property pass outside probate. Assets titled only in the decedent's name generally need a Surrogate appointment. This split decides whether you need a full probate, a general administration, or a small-estate affidavit, and it drives the inheritance tax return.

No will may be admitted to probate until after 10 days from the death of the testator (N.J.S.A. 3B:3-22). The complaint and other probate papers may be prepared and filed, and the executor may qualify, before the will is admitted, so use the wait to assemble the original will, the certified death certificate, and the names, addresses, and ages of beneficiaries and next of kin.

If there is a will, the executor probates it with the Surrogate no matter how small the estate; New Jersey has no small-estate shortcut for a testate estate. If there is no will and the total real and personal assets will not exceed $50,000, a surviving spouse, civil union partner, or domestic partner may take the assets by affidavit before the Surrogate without administration (N.J.S.A. 3B:10-3). With no surviving spouse or partner and assets not exceeding $20,000, one heir with the written consent of the other heirs may use the affidavit under N.J.S.A. 3B:10-4. Those ceilings apply to a decedent dying on or after January 19, 2016; earlier deaths use $20,000 and $10,000. Otherwise the Surrogate grants general administration (N.J.S.A. 3B:10-1 and 3B:10-2), normally with a surety bond.

Bring the original will, a certified death certificate, and the beneficiary and next-of-kin information to the Surrogate of the county of residence. Probate of a will of not more than two pages, including letters testamentary, is $100 plus $5 per additional page; general administration is $125 plus $5 per page for other documents (N.J.S.A. 22A:2-30). These amounts are fixed statewide and are the same in all 21 counties. Short certificates are $5 each and are the proof of authority banks, brokers, and the Motor Vehicle Commission ask for, so order several.

Apply for a free estate EIN from the IRS, then open an account in the estate's name, for example 'Estate of Jane Doe'. Keep estate money completely separate from personal money and keep receipts for every payment and distribution. New Jersey does not require a routine formal accounting, which makes your own records the only reliable evidence if a beneficiary later asks how the money moved.

Within 60 days after the date of probate of a will, the personal representative must mail a written notice to all beneficiaries under the will and to the persons designated by R. 4:80-1(a)(3), stating that the will has been probated, the place and date of probate, the name and address of the personal representative, and that a copy of the will will be furnished on request. Proof of mailing is then filed with the Surrogate within 10 days after the mailing (R. 4:80-6). Publication is required only where a name or address cannot be found by reasonable inquiry. New Jersey does NOT require a published notice to creditors.

Creditors must present claims to the personal representative in writing and under oath, stating the amount and the particulars, within nine months from the DATE OF DEATH (N.J.S.A. 3B:22-4). Because New Jersey requires no publication, that nine months runs from the death itself and there is no shorter mailed-notice window to shorten it. Within 3 months after a claim is presented, the personal representative must allow it, dispute it, or allow it in part, with written notice to the creditor (N.J.S.A. 3B:22-7). Report the death to the Social Security Administration, notify each bank and brokerage, and file life insurance claims.

The New Jersey Transfer Inheritance Tax is due at the death of the decedent, and the return must be filed and the tax paid within EIGHT months after the date of death (N.J.S.A. 54:35-1). The tax turns on who receives the property, not on the size of the estate. Class A takers (spouse, civil union partner, domestic partner, parent, grandparent, child including an adopted child, stepchild, grandchild and further descendants) pay nothing. A sibling or a child's spouse is Class C, with a $25,000 exemption and rates from 11%. A niece, nephew, cousin, friend, or any other person is Class D and is taxed from the first dollar at 15%. Use Form IT-R for a resident decedent or IT-NR for a nonresident.

No New Jersey bank, savings institution, credit union, safe deposit company, trust company, or similar institution may transfer a resident decedent's securities, deposits, or other assets without the written consent of the Director of the Division of Taxation, called a tax waiver (N.J.S.A. 54:35-19). Institutions may release 50% of funds on deposit before a waiver issues, which is a partial release and not permission to close the account. In most Class A resident cases, Form L-8 is filed directly with the bank or transfer agent and releases accounts and securities without a Division waiver, but L-8 cannot transfer real estate. Form L-9 requests a real property tax waiver.

New Jersey does NOT require a routine inventory. A personal representative may file an inventory and appraisal, and must do so if the court requires it or if the family exemption under N.J.S.A. 3B:16-5 is to be set off. The court may not require an inventory until 3 months after the grant of letters, except that where the exemption is being set off the inventory and appraisal must be made within those 3 months (N.J.S.A. 3B:16-2). Do not calendar a New Jersey inventory deadline copied from another state.

New Jersey does not require a routine formal accounting. Most estates close informally: on paying a devise or distributive share, the personal representative takes a REFUNDING BOND AND RELEASE from each beneficiary and files it with the Surrogate of the county that issued the letters (N.J.S.A. 3B:23-24). Filing a combined refunding bond and release of not more than two pages is $10, plus $5 per additional page. A formal accounting goes to the Superior Court, Chancery Division, Probate Part when a beneficiary demands one or the fiduciary wants a judicial discharge.

File the decedent's final federal Form 1040 and New Jersey Form NJ-1040, and a fiduciary return (federal Form 1041 and New Jersey Form NJ-1041) if the estate earns income during administration. There is NO New Jersey estate tax and no New Jersey estate tax return for a resident decedent dying on or after January 1, 2018; N.J.S.A. 54:38-1(a)(4) provides that for such an estate there shall be no tax imposed. Federal Form 706 is generally due 9 months after death only if the estate must file or a portability election is wanted.