Letter asking for the balance on the date of death in New Jersey

A short letter that asks a bank or other holder for the value of the person's accounts on the date of death. Banks usually want this before the estate is settled.

Required when you mail the letter.

It goes into the letter only. It is never saved or sent to us.

It goes into the letter as you type it. You can add a ready-made sentence:

Other formats

Do not send original documents unless the holder asks; keep copies. Sign the letter and keep a copy.

What to expect

A bank may ask for a certified death certificate and proof that you are allowed to ask. The bank decides what it will release and when.

Bank accounts after a death in New Jersey

Money in a joint account belongs to the surviving owner, and a payable-on-death account goes to its named beneficiary. For an account in the person's name alone, if there was no will and the estate is small enough, the spouse or partner (up to $50,000) or the consenting heir (up to $20,000) presents a copy of the affidavit marked a true copy by the Surrogate; the bank that pays on it is fully discharged. Otherwise an executor or administrator appointed by the Surrogate collects it.

Law: N.J.S.A. 17:16I-5; N.J.S. 3B:10-3 to 3B:10-5

Source: Official page

Do bank accounts count toward the small estate limit?

Kind of propertyHow it is treatedDetails
Bank accounts in the person's name alone
Counts

Bank accounts in the person's name alone count.

Law: N.J.S. 3B:10-3, 3B:10-4

Joint or payable-on-death (POD) bank accounts
Left out

Money in a joint account belongs to the surviving owner, and a payable-on-death account goes to its beneficiary, so these are not part of the estate.

Law: N.J.S.A. 17:16I-5

Transfer-on-death (TOD) and payable-on-death (POD) in New Jersey

Bank account (POD)

Yes

Law: N.J.S.A. 17:16I-5

Source: Official page

Death certificates in New Jersey

Certified copies are issued only to close relatives (spouse, child, grandchild, sibling, parent), legal representatives, government agencies or by court order, and requests must include valid ID and proof of relationship. Others receive a certification that cannot be used for legal purposes. Information line: 1-866-649-8726.

Where to get it
New Jersey Department of Health, Office of Vital Statistics and Registry, or the local registrar where the death occurred
Official page
Official page

Surviving spouse in New Jersey

If there is no will and the estate is worth $50,000 or less, the surviving spouse, civil union partner or domestic partner can take all of it by Affidavit of Surviving Spouse before the County Surrogate, and the first $10,000 is free from the person's debts. A vehicle titled in both spouses' names passes to the survivor with MVC form BA-62. An employer may pay a deceased worker's unpaid wages to the surviving spouse without letters.

Affidavit of Next of Kin (heirs entitled to assets without administration)

When the person died without a will, left no spouse or partner, and everything is worth $20,000 or less, one heir, with the written consent of all the other heirs, signs an affidavit before the County Surrogate and collects the property for all the heirs and creditors.

Limit

Up to $20,000 (deaths on or after January 19, 2016)

Date of deathLimit
On or after January 19, 2016
$20,000
On or before January 18, 2016
$10,000

For a death on or after January 19, 2016, the person's real and personal assets together cannot be worth more than $20,000. For earlier deaths the limit was $10,000.

What counts

The total value of the person's real and personal assets in the estate. County Surrogate guidance describes this as property in the person's name alone.

Waiting period

The law sets no waiting period for this affidavit.

Who can use it

One heir of a person who died without a will and without a surviving spouse, civil union partner or domestic partner, after getting the written consent of all the other heirs.

Court or where to file

Surrogate of the county where the person lived at death. If the person did not live in New Jersey, the Surrogate of a county where any assets are. It may also be done before the Superior Court.

Notary

The affidavit is sworn before the County Surrogate. If you live outside New Jersey, the Surrogate may authorize in writing that you sign it where you live before an officer who can take acknowledgments.

Papers to attach
  • Affidavit stating the person's residence at death, the names, addresses and relationships of all the heirs, the nature, location and value of each real and personal asset, and that the total does not exceed $20,000
  • Written consent of every other heir
  • Death certificate
  • Records showing each asset's value
Steps
  1. Confirm the person left no will and no spouse or partner, and list every heir.
  2. Get each of the other heirs to sign a written consent.
  3. Contact the Surrogate's office in the county where the person lived for an appointment.
  4. Sign the affidavit before the Surrogate and file it with the consents.
  5. Get sealed copies and present them to banks, the MVC and other holders.
  6. Use the assets for the benefit of all the heirs and creditors.
Fee

By statute the Surrogate charges $5 for each $100 of assets (or part of $100), up to a total of $50, and waives the fee when the assets are $200 or less. Counties also charge for extra copies (for example, $5 each in Camden County).

If you can't pay

The Surrogate's fee is waived when the estate's assets do not exceed $200.

Debts and responsibility

The heir who signs receives the assets for the benefit of all the heirs and creditors, gets all the rights, powers and duties of an appointed administrator, and can be sued and required to account as if appointed by the Surrogate. No bond is required.

What the bank or holder must do

A bank, savings and loan, corporation or other person that pays or delivers assets on a copy marked a true copy by the Surrogate is forever discharged from all claims for those assets, even if the estate is over the limit, the affidavit is wrong, or the consents were not obtained.

Law: N.J.S. 3B:10-4, 3B:10-5; N.J.S. 22A:2-30

Source: Official page

Who inherits with no will in New Jersey

If there is no will: the surviving spouse or partner gets everything if the person left no descendants or parents, or if all the person's descendants are also the spouse's and the spouse has no other descendants. If no descendants but a parent survives, the spouse gets the first 25% (at least $50,000 and no more than $200,000) plus three-quarters of the rest. If either has children from another relationship, the spouse gets the first 25% (same minimum and maximum) plus half of the rest. Anything else goes to descendants, then parents, then brothers and sisters and their descendants, then grandparents' families.

Law: N.J.S. 3B:5-3, 3B:5-4

Source: Official page

Good to know in New Jersey

  • Both New Jersey affidavits are only for people who died without a will (N.J.S. 3B:10-3, 3B:10-4).
  • Real estate can pass by these affidavits: the spouse or partner becomes 'entitled absolutely to all the real and personal assets' (N.J.S. 3B:10-3).
  • A bank or other holder that pays on the Surrogate's true copy is discharged even if the affidavit later proves wrong (N.J.S. 3B:10-5).

Related pages

Free help in New Jersey

A court self-help center or a legal aid office can check whether the estate qualifies, free of charge or at low cost.