Four foundational documents many New Jersey adults consider, the IRS 2026 federal estate-tax filing threshold, and the inheritance-tax classes under N.J.S.A. 54:34-1.
From The Simon Law Group Field Guides
Many New Jersey adults who finally sit down to do an estate plan have been meaning to do it for years. People often imagine the process will be expensive, complicated, and emotionally difficult. In many cases it turns out to be more manageable than expected. For a lot of families, the foundational plan is a handful of documents, a consultation or two, and a flat fee that tends to be more modest than people assume.
This guide is based on the issues Simon Law Group estate-planning clients often discuss at the first conversation. There is no charge, no email required to view it, and no obligation to retain Simon Law Group. If the topic is already on your mind, call (800) 709-1131 or request a consultation so counsel can talk through the planning timeline, documents, and possible next steps.
Names the executor of your estate, guardians for minor children, and beneficiaries of probate assets.
Note: Worth considering: many parents find it helpful to name a backup guardian as well, since people move, change circumstances, or may decline the role later.
Authorizes a named agent to manage finances if you become incapacitated. A durable POA is designed to keep family members out of an avoidable guardianship filing.
Note: Worth considering: some people prefer to name different individuals for the financial role and the medical role, since the qualities that suit one are often not the qualities that suit the other.
Names a healthcare proxy and states your treatment preferences. The document handles questions hospitals ask in the ICU when no one in the family agrees: ventilator, feeding tube, organ donation, hospice election.
Note: Worth considering: it often helps to share copies with the primary-care doctor and the people who are named, since the document tends to be most useful when those making decisions can locate it.
A standalone HIPAA release names individuals who may receive your protected health information from providers. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (45 C.F.R. § 164.508) restricts disclosure absent written authorization. Without a release, even close relatives may have difficulty getting information from medical providers.
Note: Worth considering: many families revisit HIPAA releases once a child turns 18, since providers may stop sharing information with a parent at that point. A release is one way people address that.
The legal anchors are straightforward: New Jersey will execution is governed by N.J.S.A. 3B:3-2source, self-proving affidavits by N.J.S.A. 3B:3-4source, intestacy by N.J.S.A. 3B:5-3source, financial powers of attorney by N.J.S.A. 46:2B-8.1source et seq., guardianship by N.J.S.A. 3B:12source, advance directives by N.J.S.A. 26:2H-53source et seq., and HIPAA authorizations by 45 C.F.R. § 164.508source.
Bring what you have. Missing documents should not delay the first conversation, but this checklist helps make the consultation more concrete and reduces the chance that a beneficiary designation, old deed, or business agreement contradicts the plan.
| Document or information | Why it matters | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Existing will, trust, codicil, or amendment | Counsel needs to know whether the new plan revokes, restates, or replaces older documents. | Have / Need / Not applicable |
| Deed for every real property interest | Title controls whether property passes through probate, by survivorship, or through a trust. | Have / Need / Not applicable |
| Latest mortgage, HELOC, and tax statements | Debt and carrying costs affect administration, liquidity, and fiduciary decisions. | Have / Need / Not applicable |
| Bank, brokerage, retirement, pension, and annuity statements | Beneficiary designations and account titling often override the will. | Have / Need / Not applicable |
| Life, disability, and long-term-care insurance policies | Policies may create liquidity, beneficiary-tax issues, or Medicaid/LTSS planning issues. | Have / Need / Not applicable |
| Business ownership documents | Operating agreements, buy-sell terms, and voting rights generally benefit from aligning with the estate plan. | Have / Need / Not applicable |
| Names and contact information for fiduciary candidates | Executors, trustees, guardians, POA agents, and healthcare proxies should each have backups. | Have / Need / Not applicable |
| Beneficiary list with relationship to you | New Jersey inheritance tax depends on the beneficiary class, not just the asset value. | Have / Need / Not applicable |
| Digital asset and password-location inventory | The plan should tell fiduciaries where records are kept without putting passwords in the will. | Have / Need / Not applicable |
| Special needs, elder-care, creditor, addiction, or family-conflict notes | These facts change whether outright distributions, trusts, or staggered authority are appropriate. | Have / Need / Not applicable |
The IRS lists the 2026 federal estate-tax filing threshold at $15 million for year-of-death transfers IRS estate tax filing thresholdsource. Portability may allow a surviving spouse to use a deceased spouse's unused exclusion when a timely estate-tax return is filed. Federal tax may not be the central issue for many New Jersey families, but the federal threshold does not answer probate, guardianship, beneficiary, incapacity, trust, or New Jersey inheritance-tax questions.
The focus for many families often shifts to a few practical goals: (a) helping assets reach the people you intend, in the way you intend; (b) considering whether to simplify or reduce the New Jersey probate process where it makes sense; (c) coordinating beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and life insurance, which often pass outside the will; and (d) planning for the possibility of incapacity, which can arise in any decade of a person's life.
New Jersey eliminated its state-level estate tax effective January 1, 2018. But the New Jersey inheritance tax under N.J.S.A. 54:34-1source et seq. remains in effect for non-Class-A beneficiaries. The tax is paid by the beneficiary, not the estate, based on the beneficiary's relationship to the decedent.
| Class | Relationship | Treatment |
|---|---|---|
| A | Spouse, civil-union partner, child, stepchild, grandchild, parent, grandparent | Fully exempt. |
| C | Sibling, half-sibling, son/daughter-in-law | First $25,000 exempt; then 11-16% graduated. |
| D | Niece, nephew, cousin, friend, unmarried partner | 15% on first $700,000; 16% on the balance. No exemption. |
| E | Charity, religious/educational organization, NJ political subdivision | Fully exempt. |
People who plan to leave bequests to friends, unmarried partners, nieces, or nephews are sometimes surprised by how Class D taxation can reduce what a beneficiary ultimately receives. Inheritance-tax planning depends on the beneficiary, asset, and family goals. It is a useful topic to raise early in the conversation.
As a general matter, a will governs probate assets, those titled in your individual name without a beneficiary designation. Several common assets often pass outside the will:
Many people find it helpful when the will, beneficiary designations, and titling are coordinated so they point in the same direction. A frequent example: the will leaves "everything to my three children equally," while the largest asset — a $500,000 IRA — still lists only the oldest child as beneficiary. In that situation the IRA generally pays the oldest child, and the will does not control it. A designation like this is often a quick update during life and considerably harder to address afterward.
A formatted, printable version of this guide — including the information checklist, the people-and-roles worksheet, and the beneficiary-designation review — is free to download. No email address or payment required.
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