Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New Jersey
What is required to close an estate in NJ if no accounting was done? What is the cost of an accounting for a $500,000 estate?
2 Answers from Attorneys
You need Release and Refunding Bonds from each beneficiary signing off that he/she received what the person was entitled to, and these are filed with the Surrogate. I usually obtain same by sending each person three documents: (1) Waiver of a formal judicial accounting, (2) an informal accounting of the estate and (3) a R&RB;for their share; having the person sign all 3 documents. Depending upon the complications of the estate and nature of its assets, anticipate a fee of $1,000 up to finalize everything (about 3-4 hours of time required for that fee..
Come in and see me, and bring all your paperwork. You want to wrap this up as fast and cheap as possible.