New Jersey Last Will and Testament

Moreover, in addition to trusts that provide a benefit for people, New Jersey law specifically allows for the creation of a trust for the care of animals alive during the settlor’s lifetime (“pet trust”); such a trust must terminate when there is no living animal covered by a trust or after 21 years, whichever occurs earlier. A New Jersey will gives you the option of caring for your animals after your death in this manner.

Before the terms of a Georgia last will and testament can be effectuated, the will must be proven in probate court. Probate is the court-supervised process of distributing the estate of a deceased person. It is important to note that New Jersey has a simplified probate procedure for those with small estates in two different circumstances:

1. the value of assets doesn’t exceed $20,000, and the surviving spouse or domestic partner is entitled to it all or
2. there is no surviving spouse or domestic partner, and the value of assets doesn’t exceed $10,000

In a regular probate proceeding in New Jersey, the person named to serve as executor must request from the Surrogate's Court Letters Testamentary, which give the executor the authority to handle the estate by paying debts, keep the estate’s assets safe, and distribute the remaining property as the will directs.

Intestacy: Dying without a Will

When someone dies without a will, he is said to be “intestate,” and the laws of intestacy kick in. In New Jersey, if a decedent is survived by only a spouse or domestic partner and no children or by only a spouse and descendants who are also descendants of the spouse, the spouse inherits everything; alternately, if the decedent is survived by only children but no spouse, the children inherit everything.

The surviving spouse or domestic partner would have to share the estate, however, if the deceased leaves behind parents or descendants who are not also descendants of the surviving spouse.

Exceptions to ability to distribute property

Only property titled in your name at your death may be distributed according to a New Jersey will; jointly held property, then, may not. Also, a surviving spouse or domestic partner may elect to take an elective share, or a portion, of the estate even though he or she was not included in the will.

Form a last will in New Jersey

The basic requirements for a New Jersey will include the following:

• Age: The testator must be at least 18 years old.
• Capacity: The testator must be of sound mind.
• Signature: The will must be signed by one of the following:
• Testator
• Some other person in the testator’s name in the testator’s conscious presence, by the testator’s direction.
• Witnesses: The will must be signed by at least two individuals, each of whom signed within a reasonable time after having witnessed either the signing of the will or the testator’s acknowledgment of the signature or of the will itself.
• Writing: A New Jersey will must be in writing to be valid.
• Beneficiaries: New Jersey does not limit to whom property may be left in a last will.