Small estate checker for New Jersey
Enter the date of death and what the person owned. The page adds what the state counts and compares it with the limit for that date. It does not decide anything.
The limits this checker uses
These come from the state's law as we checked it. The checker picks the row that matches the date of death you enter.
Affidavit of Next of Kin (heirs entitled to assets without administration)
| Date of death | Limit |
|---|---|
On or after January 19, 2016 | $20,000 |
On or before January 18, 2016 | $10,000 |
Also in New Jersey (not tested here)
These procedures have their own rules, so the checker does not test them. See the state page.
- Affidavit of Surviving Spouse, Partner in a Civil Union or Domestic Partner (assets without administration)
What counts toward the limit in New Jersey
Add up the value of all the person's real and personal assets in the estate: property in their name alone, including real estate. Property that passes to a surviving joint owner or a payable-on-death or transfer-on-death beneficiary is outside the estate. The statute does not say whether mortgages or other debts are subtracted.
Law: N.J.S. 3B:10-3, 3B:10-4
| Kind of property | How it is treated | Details |
|---|---|---|
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 |
Cars and other vehicles | Counts | A vehicle in the person's name alone counts; the MVC accepts the sealed affidavit to transfer it. A vehicle titled with a transfer-on-death beneficiary, or in both spouses' names, passes outside the estate. Law: N.J.S. 3B:10-3, 3B:10-4; N.J.S.A. 39:3-30.1b |
Boats and mobile or manufactured homes | Counts | A boat, mobile home or other personal property in the person's name alone counts. Law: N.J.S. 3B:10-3, 3B:10-4 |
Real estate in New Jersey | Counts | New Jersey real estate in the person's name alone counts. These affidavits cover real as well as personal assets. Law: N.J.S. 3B:10-3, 3B:10-4 |
Main home (primary residence) | Counts | The person's home counts if it was in their name alone. A home owned with a spouse as tenants by the entirety or in joint tenancy passes to the survivor. Law: N.J.S. 3B:10-3, 3B:10-4 |
Real estate in another state | Not clear | Ask the County Surrogate how real estate in another state is treated. Law: N.J.S. 3B:10-3, 3B:10-4 |
Unpaid wages owed to the person | Counts | Unpaid wages are an asset of the estate. Separately, an employer may pay all wages due a deceased worker, on proper demand and without letters, to the surviving spouse, then adult children, parents, brothers and sisters, or whoever paid the funeral expenses. Law: N.J.S.A. 34:11-4.5 |
Military pay owed to the person | Not clear | Ask the County Surrogate how to list military pay owed to the person. Law: N.J.S. 3B:10-3, 3B:10-4 |
Life insurance or retirement money paid to a named person | Left out | Life insurance and retirement benefits paid to a named beneficiary belong to that beneficiary and are not part of the estate. |
Life insurance or retirement money paid to the estate | Counts | Insurance or retirement money payable to the person's estate counts. Law: N.J.S. 3B:10-3, 3B:10-4 |
Property in a living trust | Left out | Property held in a trust passes under the trust and is not in the person's name alone. |
Property owned jointly with right of survivorship | Left out | Property owned jointly with a right of survivorship passes to the surviving owner and is not counted. Law: N.J.S.A. 17:16I-5 |
Property going to a surviving spouse | Counts | Property in the person's name alone counts even though the spouse or partner receives it; the spouse's limit is $50,000. Law: N.J.S. 3B:10-3 |
Stocks, bonds and brokerage accounts | Counts | Stocks and bonds in the person's name alone count. Securities registered in transfer-on-death or payable-on-death form go to the beneficiary. Law: N.J.S. 3B:10-3, 3B:10-4; N.J.S. 3B:30-1 et seq |
Furniture, jewelry and other belongings | Counts | Furniture, jewelry and other belongings count at their value. Law: N.J.S. 3B:10-3, 3B:10-4 |
Source: Official page
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 death Limit On or after January 19, 2016$20,000On or before January 18, 2016$10,000For 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
- Confirm the person left no will and no spouse or partner, and list every heir.
- Get each of the other heirs to sign a written consent.
- Contact the Surrogate's office in the county where the person lived for an appointment.
- Sign the affidavit before the Surrogate and file it with the consents.
- Get sealed copies and present them to banks, the MVC and other holders.
- 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
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
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.
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.
- Legal Services of New Jersey (statewide legal hotline) · 1-888-576-5529
- NJ MVC: Transfer of title upon death of owner
- Camden County Surrogate: Forms and fees
- Monmouth County Surrogate: A Citizen's Guide to Wills, Trusts, and Estates
- LawHelp.org
- Legal Services Corporation (LSC) - Find legal aid
- Eldercare Locator · 1-800-677-1116
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (debt collection and mortgage complaints) · (855) 411-2372