The personal representative closes an estate informally by making distribution and taking a Refunding Bond and Release from each devisee/distributee, filed with the county surrogate (N.J.S.A. 3B:23-24); the release relieves the personal representative from rendering or settling a court account (N.J.S.A. 3B:17-1), and no court hearing or order is required. A formal alternative is settlement of the final account in the Superior Court, Chancery Division, Probate Part (N.J.S.A. 3B:17-2; R. 4:87), whose judgment discharges the fiduciary (N.J.S.A. 3B:17-8)N.J.S.A. 3B:17-1, 3B:17-2, 3B:17-8, 3B:23-24, 3B:23-25, 3B:23-26; R. 4:87Verified Sep 15, 2026View source.

A person named as executor who will not serve renounces the appointment before anyone is appointed; the instrument is a written renunciation filed with the courtR. 4:96-2 (Renunciations)Verified Sep 23, 2026View source. The writing is signed and acknowledged before a notaryR. 4:96-2; Ocean County Surrogate's Court, Renunciation of ExecutorshipVerified Sep 23, 2026View source.

No hard statutory close date, but distribution (and the refunding bonds that close the estate) should wait until the nine-month creditor-claim window from death has run, because N.J.S.A. 3B:22-4 shields the personal representative from liability only for assets paid out after that period; intestate estates carry an express floor of one year after the grant of administration (N.J.S.A. 3B:23-18), reducible to six months only if an order to limit creditors is enteredN.J.S.A. 3B:22-4; N.J.S.A. 3B:23-18Verified Sep 15, 2026View source.

Yes, for the asset categories the statute does not let the personal representative value directly: the personal representative engages an independent appraiserN.J.S.A. 3B:16-2, 3B:16-3, 3B:16-6Verified Sep 15, 2026View source, whose name appears on the inventory.