Probate in Ocean County

Probate Court Record

Ocean County Surrogate's Court

Ocean County

Hours

Monday-Friday 8:00 AM-4:30 PM

Office

118 Washington Street, 2nd Floor, Room 216, Toms River, NJ 08753

Filing in person

Walk-ins accepted

Self-represented filing

Allowed

Self-help forms

How to file probate in Ocean County →

Verified October 16, 2026 · Source

Do I need a lawyer for probate in Ocean County? →Settling an estate in Ocean County →

Trust Administration Firms Serving Ocean County

Simeone & Raynor is a Cherry Hill firm in Camden County, with a second office in Medford, serving South Jersey. The firm handles estate planning, estate administration, and estate litigation, and its attorneys routinely appear in probate courts and serve as court-appointed administrators across the region.

Serves 7 countiesEstate PlanningTrust AdministrationProbateProbate LitigationTrustsWills

Giordano, Halleran & Ciesla is a Red Bank firm serving Monmouth County and central New Jersey in trusts and estates matters. Its attorneys handle estate and trust administration, estate, fiduciary, and probate litigation, and will contests, counseling executors, trustees, heirs, and corporate fiduciaries in fiduciary-removal and accounting actions, plus guardianships and special needs trusts.

Estate PlanningTrust AdministrationProbateBusiness Succession

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.

Estate PlanningTrust AdministrationProbateElder LawCharitable PlanningWealth Transfer

Archer & Greiner's Private Wealth, Estates & Trusts group serves clients from its Voorhees office in Camden County and other Mid-Atlantic locations. The practice handles estate and trust administration, estate and trust litigation, will and trust disputes, business succession, and elder law. Several attorneys hold CPA credentials or master's degrees in taxation.

Serves the whole stateEstate PlanningTrust AdministrationProbateProbate LitigationTrust Litigation+3

Founded in 1926, Cole Schotz is a Hackensack-based firm serving Bergen County and the Mid-Atlantic. Its Tax, Trusts & Estates attorneys handle estate planning, estate and trust administration, and wealth transfer for high-net-worth individuals, executors, and trustees.

Since 1926Serves the whole stateEstate PlanningTrust AdministrationProbateTax PlanningWealth Transfer

Formed in January 2026 by the merger of Gibbons P.C. and Frost Brown Todd, FBT Gibbons keeps Gibbons' longtime Newark office at One Gateway Center. Its Wealth Planning & Family Office team handles estate planning and trust and estate administration, and a dedicated group litigates contested trust and estate matters for fiduciaries and beneficiaries.

Serves the whole stateEstate PlanningTrust AdministrationProbateTax PlanningCharitable Planning

All 17 New Jersey trust administration firms serving Ocean County →

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.

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Revocable Living Trust

Create a revocable living trust to avoid probate, protect privacy, and control asset distribution.

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Pour-Over Will

In New Jersey, a pour-over will is signed before 2N.J.S.A. 3B:3-2Verified Oct 19, 2026View source witnesses and moves anything left outside the trust into it through probate.

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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 Do I Settle a Trust?

Settling a trust in New Jersey happens outside court: the trustee acts under the state's Uniform Trust CodeN.J.S.A. 3B:31-1 et seq.Verified Oct 17, 2026View source, notifies the beneficiaries, then pays the debts and distributes under the trust's terms.

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What's Fair Trustee Compensation?

In New Jersey, trustee compensation follows a statutory fee scheduleN.J.S.A. 3B:18-2 (nontestamentary governing-instrument override), 3B:18-24 (income commissions), 3B:18-25 (annual corpus commissions; court reasonableness review), 3B:18-25.1 (multiple fiduciaries — annual corpus), 3B:18-28 (termination corpus commissions), 3B:18-31 (testamentary-trustee-only excess authorization)Verified Sep 18, 2026View source unless the trust instrument sets a different amount. The schedule is an annual commission on principal.

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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.

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Do I Have to File Tax Returns for Someone Who Died?

New Jersey requires a final state income tax return for the decedent alongside the federal Form 1040N.J.S.A. 54A:2-1Verified Sep 20, 2026View source; a federal estate tax return (Form 706) is required only for estates above $15,000,00026 USC 2001(c), 2010; P.L. 119-21 §70106Verified Sep 15, 2026View source.

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How Does Step-Up in Basis Work?

Inherited assets in New Jersey take a basis reset to fair market value on the date of death26 USC § 1014Verified Sep 15, 2026View source, and the gain on a later sale faces ordinary income tax at the state's regular ratesN.J.S.A. 54A:2-1 (rate schedule, as amended by P.L. 2020, c.94 — Millionaires Tax)Verified Sep 15, 2026View source.

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