Simplified route
$20,000
Affidavit for assets without administration (intestate estate); waiting period not verified.
Eligibility and caveatsNew Jersey estate administration
New Jersey probate: rules, process, costs, executor fees and deadlines
Small-estate limit: $20,000
This guide explains probate in New Jersey: New Jersey's county Surrogates handle uncontested probate and intestate affidavits; contested probate matters proceed in the Superior Court, Chancery Division, Probate Part.
Sources reviewed August 9, 2026. Latest primary-source re-fetch October 3, 2026.
Answer first
New Jersey simplified probate route
Up to $20,000; waiting period not verified. Source: P.L.2015, c.232; N.J.S.A. 3B:10-3 and 3B:10-4.
Affidavit for assets without administration (intestate estate)Screen a specific New Jersey estate with the calculators on the small-estate page and the executor-fee page, or compare states in the full estate navigator.
What the reviewed rules establish
Court cost
Varies locally
Set locally; ask the receiving court.
Filing-cost detailExecutor compensation
Statutory schedule
A statutory percentage schedule applies. Source: P.L.2000, c.29; N.J.S.A. 3B:18-14.
Compensation detailCreditor deadline
Multiple triggers
P.L.2004, c.132, §84; N.J.S.A. 3B:22-4 (New Jersey Legislature; reviewed August 9, 2026)
Timeline and creditor detailsStatutes read in full for New Jersey
Read on the enacting state’s own site, with the date each was read.
| Citation | What reading it established | Read on |
|---|---|---|
| N.J.S. 3B:18-14 | New Jersey is one of the few states that prints the commission rates — representative pay note | 2026-09-17 |
| N.J.S. 3B:22-4 | New Jersey runs nine months from death, not from a published notice — creditor deadline note | 2026-09-17 |
| N.J.S. 22A:2-30 | The New Jersey surrogate charges by the page, and the schedule is statutory — court and filing cost note | 2026-09-17 |
New Jersey decision map
The four facts that change the New Jersey route
Each New Jersey answer below links to the page that sets out its source.
| Question | Recorded New Jersey answer |
|---|---|
| What route is being screened? | Affidavit for assets without administration (intestate estate) |
| What property and basis count? | probate property within the rule's stated scope; gross value for this route. |
| What is the amount screen? | $20,000 |
| What is the time or deadline record? | No waiting-period number verified; creditor deadlines: separate clocks by triggering event |
| What does the cost record establish? | No single statewide amount is published here; confirm the receiving court's current schedule. |
| What does compensation use? | Statutory percentage schedule, measured on gross probate property. |
Limits and unresolved costs
- N.J.S.A. 3B:18-13 income commission is UNKNOWN.
- Current county Surrogate filing total is variable/UNKNOWN.
- No machine-fetchable statewide Surrogate directory or statewide form was available; NJ Courts blocks automated access.
- No separate creditor actual-notice, publication, or appointment deadline was verified.
Continue
What New Jersey courts publish
Every link is probed before each release.
- Self-help centreNew Jersey Courts self-help centreNew Jersey Courts
Limits on court material
- No machine-fetchable statewide Surrogate directory or statewide small-estate form was found. NJ Courts returned HTTP 403 on every tested path, so the dossier supplies an HTTP-200 official county Surrogate entry point and instructs the user to select the county of venue.
- Probate is filed with the Surrogate of the county where the decedent lived, and each Surrogate sets its own filing charges, so the statewide directory is the starting point rather than a single county page.
- New Jersey Courts serves its deeper probate and Surrogate pages only to interactive browsers, so this site links the self-help centre and leaves the reader to navigate from there rather than publishing a link it cannot prove reachable.
- The New Jersey Legislature's Chapter Laws page (https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/chapter-laws) is the official enacted-law entry point, not a court self-help or forms directory, so it is described here rather than listed as a court resource; the court-owned material is the NJ Courts self-help centre linked above.
New Jersey primary sources
- P.L.2015, c.232; N.J.S.A. 3B:10-3 and 3B:10-4 — P.L.2015, c.232
- P.L.2000, c.29; N.J.S.A. 3B:18-14 — P.L.2000, c.29
- P.L.2004, c.132, §84; N.J.S.A. 3B:22-4 — P.L.2004, c.132
Every quotation, edition label and machine check is on the New Jersey source record.
New Jersey record: 3/3 verified, 14 matched checks, latest source re-fetch October 3, 2026. Source record · method · report a correction