Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New Jersey
My mother recently passed away, leaving the entirety of her estate to my brother and myself to share equally. Her estate consists entirely of bonds. Because the value of the estate is in excess of $675,000, we will have to pay New Jersey estate tax, and have eight months to do so. Can we divide up the assets of the estate prior to submitting the estate tax return and receiving a waiver from the state?
1 Answer from Attorneys
It is fairly common for distributions to be made prior to the reciept of the NJ estate tax waivers. Whether or not you can do this in your case will depend in large part on the brokerage or transfer agent handling the bonds. Some firms will not make any change in the title of the bonds unless they are in reciept of the tax waivers, others will.