New Jersey Estate
Executors and Administrators of a New Jersey Estate have significant duties. An important and mandatory duty is that executors and administrators must have a child support judgment search done according to NJ law.
In order to do so, they must obtain:
Last 4 digits of social for each beneficiary
Legal first and last names for each beneficiary
This is because NJSA 2A:17-56.23(b) provides that child support judgments are liens against the proceeds of an estate. The law does not preclude the estate from paying the decedent's debts. However, the law states that the estate cannot pay an inheritance to any heir or devisee under the will prior to obtaining a certification from a private judgment search company stating whether the heir or devisee is a child support judgment debtor.
The judgment search company will provide the Estate with a certification stating whether the heir or devisee is a child support judgment debtor. The judgment search company may not charge more than $10.00 for each name searched, and the fee is chargeable against the share of the heir or devisee.
The heir or devisee must provide the estate with a certification that includes his/her full name, mailing address, date of birth, and social security number. It is the estate's obligation, as the Executor or Administrator, to initiate the judgment search.
After the estate receives the certification from the judgment search company, there are two options. If the certification shows that the heir or devisee is not a child support judgment debtor, the inheritance may be paid to him/her immediately.
If the certification shows that the heir or devisee is a child support judgment debtor, the estate must contact the Probation Division of the Superior Court to arrange for satisfaction of the child support judgment.
The estate must notify the heir or devisee of the intent to satisfy the child support judgment prior to disbursement of any funds to him/her. Upon receipt of a warrant of satisfaction for the child support judgment, the estate must pay the balance to the heir or devisee. If the inheritance is less than the amount of the child support judgment, the entire amount of the inheritance shall be paid to the Probation Division as partial satisfaction of the judgment.
The duties are mandatory, and an Executor or Administrator can face severe penalties for not doing so including having to pay the judgment itself.
This document is designed for general information only. The information presented in this document should not be construed to be formal legal or tax advice nor the formation of a lawyer/client relationship.
For more information on this and other topics, please contact Kevin via any of the channels listed below:
📧 kevin@kmckernan.com | 📞 718-317-5007