Wills & Trusts · New Jersey
Revocable Living Trusts in New Jersey.
Do You Actually Need One?
Most families have no idea what settling an estate in New Jersey actually costs. The court filing fee is trivial. The statutory commissions are not — on a $2 million estate, New Jersey law entitles the executor alone to $58,000, before a single attorney hour is billed.
Book a Planning Call →The Number Nobody Quotes
What Settling a New Jersey Estate Actually Costs.
People hear "probate fees" and picture court costs. The court is the cheap part. The expensive part is written into the statute — and it is calculated on the size of your estate.
$58,000
The executor's statutory commission on a $2 million New Jersey estate — set by law, not negotiated
9–18 months
Before beneficiaries typically receive anything, driven by the nine-month creditor claim period
Public record
The will, the inventory, and who received what — readable by anyone who asks the Surrogate
New Jersey sets executor commissions by statute at N.J.S.A. 3B:18-14: five percent of the first $200,000, three and a half percent of the next $800,000, and two percent of everything above $1 million. It is not an estimate and it is not a quote you can shop around. It is arithmetic on your gross estate.
| Gross estate | Statutory executor commission | Plus attorney fees for administration |
|---|---|---|
| $500,000 | $20,500 | commonly $4,000–$10,000 |
| $1,000,000 | $38,000 | commonly $6,000–$15,000 |
| $2,000,000 | $58,000 | commonly $10,000–$25,000 |
| $3,000,000 | $78,000 | commonly $15,000–$30,000 |
Add the executor's six percent commission on income earned during administration, appraisals, accountings, and preparation of the New Jersey inheritance tax return, and a $2 million estate routinely costs a family $70,000 to $85,000 to settle.
Own property in another state and the whole process repeats there — a separate ancillary probate, under that state's rules, usually with that state's attorney, at that state's rates. A shore house in Delaware or a condo in Florida can add $5,000 to $15,000 each, and months to the timeline.
The Alternative
What Changes With a Trust in Place.
Assets held in a properly funded trust never enter the probate estate at all. That single fact changes the cost, the timeline and the privacy of everything that follows.
Through Probate
- Statutory commissions calculated on your entire gross estate
- Full attorney fees for estate administration
- A separate ancillary probate in every other state where you own property
- The will, the inventory and the distributions all become public record
- Nine to eighteen months before beneficiaries typically see anything
Through a Funded Trust
- Trust assets are never counted in the probate estate
- Commissions and fees are calculated on a smaller base, at lower rates
- No ancillary probate anywhere — one administration covers every state
- Nothing becomes a public record
- Distributions can begin without waiting on the Surrogate
For a family with a larger estate, or property in more than one state, the difference is measured in tens of thousands of dollars — and often in months of delay their family does not have to endure.
A trust does not make settling an estate free. Someone still has to do the work, and New Jersey law entitles them to be paid for it. What a trust does is shrink what passes through the court entirely, and put you in control of who handles it and on what terms.
When It Earns Its Keep
Seven Situations Where a Trust Does Real Work.
If one of these describes your family, the conversation changes entirely.
Real estate outside New Jersey
A property in Pennsylvania, a shore condo in Delaware, a place in Florida — each means a separate ancillary probate in that state, under its rules, usually with its own attorney. A trust consolidates all of it into one administration. This alone can justify the cost.
You have minor children
Without a trust, a child's inheritance is held until eighteen and then handed over in full. A trust lets you stage distributions and choose who manages the money. More on trusts for minor children →
Planning for incapacity
A power of attorney is only as useful as the institutions willing to honor it, and banks refuse them regularly. A funded trust lets your successor trustee step in immediately, without a guardianship proceeding in Superior Court.
You have a blended family
A trust can provide for a surviving spouse during their lifetime while guaranteeing that what remains goes to your children — an outcome a simple will cannot reliably produce.
A beneficiary shouldn't get a lump sum
A child in the middle of a divorce, a beneficiary with creditors, a family member with an addiction, someone who has never managed money. A trust distributes on your terms rather than all at once.
You don't want it public
A will admitted to probate becomes a public record. Anyone can read who received what, and how much. A trust does not.
You expect a challenge
If you are disinheriting someone or dividing unequally among children, a funded trust is harder to contest than a will and does not hand a challenger a probate proceeding to file into.
Not Sure Which Side You Fall On?
That is exactly what the planning call is for. Sometimes the honest answer is that a well-drafted will and updated beneficiary forms will serve you better, for less.
Book a Planning Call → or call (908) 671-1434 · virtual sessions available statewideSetting Expectations
Four Things a Revocable Trust Will Not Do.
A revocable trust is regularly sold as more than it is. These are the promises to be skeptical of.
Reduce New Jersey inheritance tax
The tax is assessed on who inherits, not on how the asset was held. Assets passing through a revocable trust are taxed identically to assets passing through a will.
Reduce federal estate tax
As of 2026 the federal exemption is $15 million per person and has been made permanent — it applies to almost no one. And because you keep full control, trust assets stay in your taxable estate regardless.
Protect assets from creditors
"Revocable" means you can undo it, which means the law still treats the assets as yours. Your creditors can reach them during your lifetime and after.
Shield assets from a nursing home
The most costly misunderstanding in this area. Long-term care protection requires an irrevocable trust, set up well before care is needed, and it means giving up control. Medicaid planning is handled separately →
The Tax That Actually Applies
New Jersey Inheritance Tax Depends on Who Inherits.
New Jersey repealed its estate tax in 2018. The inheritance tax remains — and it is the one that catches families by surprise.
Class A
Exempt
Spouse, civil union or domestic partner, children, stepchildren, grandchildren, parents, grandparents
Class C
11%+
Siblings, and a son-in-law or daughter-in-law. First $25,000 exempt, then 11% and rising with the amount
Class D
15%
Nieces, nephews, cousins, friends, unmarried partners — everyone not listed elsewhere. From the first dollar; 16% above $700,000
Class E
Exempt
Charities, religious institutions, educational institutions and government entities
A partner of thirty years who was never married to you is a Class D beneficiary and pays fifteen percent starting at the first dollar. So does a favorite niece. So does a lifelong friend.
A revocable trust does not change any of this. Planning around it — through lifetime gifting, life insurance structured correctly, or in some cases marriage or civil union — sometimes can. That is a conversation worth having before the fact rather than after.
Side by Side
Will or Trust, Compared in New Jersey.
A Will
- Takes effect at death only
- Goes through Surrogate's Court, with the executor entitled to the full statutory commission
- Becomes a public record
- Separate probate for property in each other state
- Nominates guardians for minor children — only a will can
- Sign it and store it; nothing else required of you
- Lower cost
A Revocable Living Trust
- Takes effect immediately and continues through incapacity
- Avoids probate entirely for assets titled in the trust
- Stays private
- One administration covering property in every state
- Cannot nominate guardians — you still need a will
- Must be funded: every asset retitled into it
- Higher cost upfront
Note the guardianship line. A will is the only document that nominates guardians for minor children, which is why families who use a trust still sign a will alongside it — a short "pour-over" will that names guardians and catches anything never moved into the trust.
The Step Everyone Skips
Funding Decides Whether Any of It Works.
A trust only controls assets that have been legally transferred into it. Signing the document is the beginning of the work, not the end.
Funding a New Jersey trust means recording a new deed for the house, retitling bank and brokerage accounts, and reviewing every beneficiary designation you have. This is where do-it-yourself trusts — and, frankly, some attorney-drafted ones — quietly fail.
A trust sits in a drawer while the house is still titled in your own name. The estate goes through probate anyway, and the family has paid for a document that did not work. They find out after the funeral, when nothing can be corrected.
Beneficiary designations override both wills and trusts. Retirement accounts, life insurance and payable-on-death accounts pass to whoever is named on the form, no matter what your other documents say. An ex-spouse still listed on a 401(k) from a previous job will inherit it. Reviewing those forms is often worth more than the trust itself.
How It Works
Four Steps, One Flat Fee.
Most clients go from first call to signed documents in two to three weeks.
Planning Call
What you own, where it is, and who it is going to. Most of the time this conversation alone tells us plainly whether a trust is warranted.
Design
If a trust makes sense, you get the structure and a flat fee in writing before any drafting begins. No hourly billing, no surprises.
Drafting & Signing
The trust, a pour-over will, powers of attorney and health care directives, executed properly under New Jersey law.
Funding
The deed prepared and recorded, retitling instructions for each institution, beneficiary designations reviewed. Included — not left for you to figure out.
Your Family. Your Legacy. Your Plan.
The Himmel Law Firm serves Union County and all of New Jersey, with virtual sessions available statewide.
Book a Planning Call → 277 North Broad Street, Elizabeth, NJ · (908) 671-1434Common Questions
What Families Usually Ask.
Do I need a revocable trust if my only major asset is my house in New Jersey?
It depends on what the house is worth and what else you own. New Jersey's executor commission is calculated on the gross estate, so a $700,000 house on its own carries roughly a $27,500 statutory commission before any attorney fees. Incapacity planning, minor children and privacy all factor in too — but the cost question is real, and it scales directly with your home's value.
Does a revocable living trust avoid New Jersey inheritance tax?
No. The inheritance tax depends on the beneficiary's relationship to you, not on how the asset was titled. A Class D beneficiary pays fifteen percent whether the asset arrives through a trust or a will.
Is a living trust better than a will in New Jersey?
It depends on the size and shape of your estate. A trust reduces the statutory commission from five, three and a half and two percent down to a flat two percent, eliminates ancillary probate in other states, and keeps everything private. For a modest single-state estate the gap is small. For a larger estate, or one with property in more than one state, it can be tens of thousands of dollars.
Can I write my own revocable trust?
You can, and many of them fail. The recurring problems are not drafting errors but funding failures — the trust is signed and the assets are never moved into it — along with execution defects and language that does not do what the person believed it did. The failure is discovered by the family, after death, when nothing can be corrected.
Does a revocable trust protect my assets from nursing home costs?
No. Because you retain the power to revoke it, the assets remain countable for Medicaid purposes. Long-term care asset protection requires an irrevocable trust established well in advance, and involves genuinely giving up control.
What happens to my New Jersey trust if I move to another state?
The trust generally remains valid, but it should be reviewed. State law differs on spousal rights, taxation and administration, and a plan built around New Jersey's rules may not fit as intended elsewhere.
How often should a trust be reviewed?
Every three to five years, and immediately after a marriage, divorce, death, birth, significant change in assets, or a move to another state. An estate plan is not a document you sign once — it is a document that has to keep matching your life.
Not Ready to Talk Yet?
Then Start With Your Own Numbers.
Some people want to see what this would actually cost their family before they want a conversation with a lawyer. That is a reasonable place to start.
Our New Jersey probate cost calculator estimates what your estate would owe in statutory commissions, attorney fees and court costs. It takes about two minutes, and nothing you enter is shared with anyone.
Run the Probate Cost Calculator →
When the number gives you pause — and for most families it does — book a planning call and we will go through what to do about it.
This page is general information about New Jersey law and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every family's circumstances differ, and the right answer depends on facts this page cannot know.