How Does the Process Work

 How Does the Process Work

When you arrive at the Surrogate’s Court, a probate clerk will review the original Last Will & Testament to ensure that it has been properly drawn, signed and witnessed. It is important that you do not make handwritten changes to your Last Will & Testament after it has been signed by you and your witnesses.

If there are no problems with the Last Will & Testament or with the items you have brought (the original Last Will & Testament and the certified copy of the death certificate will stay with the Surrogate’s Court), you will sign qualification papers to become the executor, pay the statutory fee, and be deemed “qualified.” Shortly thereafter a Judgment of Probate will then be issued, followed by Letters Testamentary that complete your appointment as executor.

The probate clerk will ask you how many certified copies of the Letters Testamentary (also known as a “Surrogate Certificate”) you will need. Letters Testamentary is the formal document appointing the executor. You will generally need one certified copy, bearing a raised seal, for each asset to be transferred from the testator to a beneficiary. Therefore, depending on the estate, you will need several Surrogate Certificates, especially if the assets are being held by several banks, brokerage firms, pension plans and insurance companies. Surrogate Certificates will also be needed to sell or transfer any real estate. The cost is $5.00 each.

Many executors find it easier to get extra Surrogate’s Certificates to avoid the need to purchase more at a later date. Surrogate’s Certificates are generally valid for one (1) year from the date of issuance. However, some financial institutions may require that the Surrogate’s Certificates be issued within a certain period of time. Most brokerage firms require your Surrogate’s Certificates be dated within 30 to 60 days of issuance. You will receive in the mail the Letters Testamentary (and the quantity of Surrogate’s Certificates requested while you were meeting with the probate clerk), a copy of the decedent’s Last Will & Testament, together with a general information brochure concerning the New Jersey Inheritance and Estate Tax, and a copy of the court rule regarding the “Notice of Probate of Will,” from the Surrogate’s Court about seven (7) business days later.

Once the judgment for probate and the Letters Testamentary have been issued, the Last Will & Testament is deemed “probated.” As described in the copy of the court ruling governing “Notice of Probate of Will” that is sent to the executor with the Letters Testamentary, the law requires that the executor notify all beneficiaries and next of kin (including those next of kin who are not beneficiaries in the Last Will & Testament) that the Last Will & Testament has been probated, the place and date of probate, that a copy of the Last Will & Testament is available upon request, and that they be informed of the name of the executor. This must be done within 60 days from the date the Last Will & Testament was probated. This should generally be done by certified mail, return receipt request. Copies of each letter and the certified mail receipts proving that each person has received notice must be saved. The executor must then file a “Proof of mailing of the Notice of Probate of Will” with the Surrogate’s Court together with a fee of $5.00 for each page of the proof of mailing of the “Notice of Probate of Will.”

 

Source http://www.bergencountysurrogate.com/probate.html