Rose & Zucker serves Hudson County from Bayonne, filing through the Hudson County Surrogate at 595 Newark Avenue in Jersey City, with a second office in Summit for Union and Essex County clients. The firm walks executors and successor trustees through probate and estate administration and pairs it with Medicaid applications, asset protection, and special needs planning.
Probate in Essex County
Probate Court Record
Essex County Surrogate's Court
Essex County
Phone
Hours
Office
Website
Self-represented filing
Self-help forms
How to file probate in Essex County →
Verified October 16, 2026 · Source
Do I need a lawyer for probate in Essex County? →Settling an estate in Essex County →
Probate Firms Serving Essex County
Ansell Grimm & Aaron serves Monmouth County and the Jersey Shore from its Ocean office, handling New Jersey probate and estate matters through the Chancery Division. Its probate and estate litigation attorneys handle will contests involving capacity, undue influence, and fraud, trust disputes, and fiduciary actions against executors, trustees, and guardians, alongside estate administration.
Dughi, Hewit & Domalewski is a Cranford firm in Union County, with offices in Morris Plains and Absecon, established in 1979. Its trusts and estates team handles probate, estate and trust administration, will contests involving undue influence or improper execution, and defense of executors and trustees in fiduciary disputes, including litigation over joint, pay-on-death, and retirement accounts.
Einhorn, Barbarito, Frost, Botwinick, Nunn & Musmanno is a Parsippany firm serving Morris County and northern New Jersey. Its attorneys handle estate planning, probate and estate administration, trust administration, and elder law, including assisted-living and long-term-care matters.
Pashman Stein Walder Hayden is a Hackensack firm in Bergen County, with a second office in Holmdel. Its Trusts & Estates group advises individuals, families, and financial advisors on trust and estate planning, gifting, and wealth preservation, and handles probate litigation and elder law and special needs matters.
Shapiro, Croland, Reiser, Apfel & Di Iorio, LLP
Continental Plaza II, 411 Hackensack Avenue, Hackensack, NJ 07601
Shapiro Croland sits minutes from the Bergen County Surrogate and Superior Court in Hackensack and runs a dedicated probate litigation practice across northern and central New Jersey. It represents fiduciaries and estate beneficiaries in contested wills, fiduciary and guardianship disputes, and estate administration, and takes local-counsel roles for out-of-state lawyers.
Forms for Planning and Settling an Estate in New Jersey
Free New Jersey forms to plan or settle an estate: a will, trust, powers of attorney, TOD deed and the probate forms. Prepare each form for New Jersey.
Revocable Living Trust
Create a revocable living trust to avoid probate, protect privacy, and control asset distribution.
Last Will and Testament
In New Jersey, a will is signed before 2N.J.S.A. 3B:3-2Verified Oct 19, 2026View source witnesses, and a self-proving affidavit signed with it lets the court admit it without witness testimonyN.J.S.A. 3B:3-2Verified Oct 19, 2026View source.
Tools for Planning and Settling an Estate in New Jersey
Free calculators and checklists to plan or settle an estate in New Jersey: will and trust costs, probate, executor pay and taxes. Run each tool for New Jersey.
How Much Does Probate Cost?
Probate on a $500,000 estate in New Jersey costs an estimated $35,885R. 4:42-9(a)(3) (counsel fee out of the estate); R. 4:42-9(b) (affidavit of services; RPC 1.5(a) factors; no statutory percentage); N.J.S.A. 3B:18-6 (attorney serving as fiduciary)Verified Sep 8, 2026View source. Attorney fees run 2.4%Modeled estimate under R. 4:42-9(a)(3) (counsel fee out of the estate); R. 4:42-9(b) (affidavit of services; RPC 1.5(a) factors; no statutory percentage); N.J.S.A. 3B:18-6 (attorney serving as fiduciary): the hours the statutory fee schedules imply, at the state's surveyed hourly rateVerified Sep 8, 2026View source to 3.9%Modeled estimate under R. 4:42-9(a)(3) (counsel fee out of the estate); R. 4:42-9(b) (affidavit of services; RPC 1.5(a) factors; no statutory percentage); N.J.S.A. 3B:18-6 (attorney serving as fiduciary): the hours the statutory fee schedules imply, at the state's surveyed hourly rateVerified Sep 8, 2026View source of the estate under a reasonable-compensation standard.
How Do I Settle an Estate?
Settling an estate in New Jersey: creditors have 9 monthsN.J.S.A. 3B:22-2, 3B:22-4, 3B:22-8, 3B:22-10, 3B:22-33Verified Oct 18, 2026View source to present claims; a simple estate closes in 6 months to 9 months.
How Much Can an Executor Charge?
New Jersey sets executor compensation by statute — about $20,500 on a $500,000 estate, roughly 4.1%N.J.S.A. 3B:18-14Verified Sep 8, 2026View source.
Do I Need Probate?
In New Jersey, estates valued at $20,000N.J.S.A. 3B:10-3Verified Sep 8, 2026View source or less use the Affidavit of Surviving Spouse or Next of KinN.J.S.A. 3B:10-3Verified Sep 8, 2026View source, a court filing short of full probate.
What Are the Creditor Claim Deadlines?
In New Jersey, the 9 monthsN.J.S.A. 3B:22-4Verified Sep 8, 2026View source period after the date of death protects a representative who distributes after it; late claims can still reach undistributed assets.
Can I Self-File Probate?
New Jersey has no statewide fill-in probate petition, so the opening petition is drafted as a legal pleading, and informal probate is not availableN.J.S.A. 3B:3-17, 3B:3-19; 2B:14-1 (Surrogate is the Judge and Clerk of the Surrogate's Court — no non-judicial/registrar track)Verified Sep 8, 2026View source.
