Cumberland County, NJ Probate Information

Before you schedule an appointment with the Cumberland County Surrogate, know exactly what is in the estate. The path - probate of a will, general administration when there is no will, administration with the will annexed, or one of New Jersey's intestate affidavit-in-lieu paths - depends entirely on whether there is a will and on the value and type of the assets. Cumberland handles probate by appointment and asks families to call ahead, so arriving with a complete asset and debt picture and the completed Information Sheet saves a return trip.

Identify every bank account, credit-union account, retirement plan, brokerage holding, life-insurance policy, vehicle, and parcel of real property, along with every debt, before you qualify. The county's Information Sheet asks you to list the deceased's assets with proof of ownership and value (statements, titles, deeds, registrations) and whether the estate exceeds $2,000,000. Sunset's asset-discovery work, searching more than 2,300 financial institutions, exists for this step.

The Cumberland County Surrogate's Court serves the entire county from the Cumberland County Court House in Bridgeton, with a second office at 2745 S. Delsea Drive in Vineland used by appointment. It covers Bridgeton, Vineland, and Millville and the surrounding townships of Commercial, Deerfield, Downe, Fairfield, Greenwich, Hopewell, Lawrence, Maurice River, Stow Creek, and Upper Deerfield, along with Shiloh. Uncontested probate and administration are filed here when the decedent was domiciled in Cumberland County at death (R. 4:80-1(c)); if the decedent had no New Jersey domicile, venue lies in any county where New Jersey property is located.

The Surrogate is an elected constitutional officer (N.J.S.A. 2B:14-1) who serves as both Judge and Clerk of the Surrogate's Court and, per the New Jersey Judiciary, as Deputy Clerk of the Superior Court, Chancery Division, Probate Part. The Surrogate handles only uncontested matters. If a caveat is filed or a matter becomes contested - a will contest, a fiduciary removal, a formal accounting - the case moves to the Superior Court, Chancery Division, Probate Part in the Cumberland/Gloucester/Salem Vicinage (Vicinage 15), where counsel is effectively required.

Probate is by appointment, with two offices. Cumberland handles probate by scheduled appointment at the Bridgeton courthouse and at a second office at 2745 S. Delsea Drive in Vineland. Call (856) 453-4800 (or (856) 453-4808 for Vineland) first; the office asks families to call before visiting so they bring the right documents. Appointment hours are 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. and 2:00 to 3:45 p.m.

Check or cash only. The Surrogate takes payment by check or cash, and asks for a photo ID when you sign the probate documents. Plan the fee in advance so the appointment is a single trip.

One combined Information Sheet is the intake form. New Jersey publishes no statewide probate form set. Cumberland uses a single Information Sheet for every estate rather than separate will and administration fact sheets; page two collects the asset list for a no-will estate and any testamentary trust. Complete it before your appointment.

One short certificate is included in the base fee. The $100 will-probate fee and the $125 administration fee each include one short certificate; each additional short certificate is $5. Order enough at your appointment for every bank, the DMV, and any title company or transfer agent.

The Surrogate holds funds owed to minors. Where an inheritance is owed to a minor or an incapacitated person and no guardian of the property has been appointed, the funds are held in the Surrogate's Intermingled Trust Fund until they can be released. Ask the office how a minor's share is handled before you distribute.

Free wills for seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities. Since 1988 the Cumberland Surrogate has offered a privately funded program providing free simple wills to county residents age 60 and over, veterans, and people with disabilities, and it distributes living-will forms at no charge. This is estate planning, separate from probate, but it is a resource many Cumberland families use.

Most Cumberland County estates are uncontested and are completed by qualifying at an appointment with the Surrogate's office, without an attorney, and the Bridgeton and Vineland offices make that practical for families across the county. Consider counsel when a caveat is filed or the matter otherwise becomes contested and moves to the Superior Court, Chancery Division, Probate Part; when a will contest or heir dispute is likely; when Class C or Class D beneficiaries owe inheritance tax and a return with valuations is needed; when the estate is insolvent or a formal accounting is demanded; or when the estate holds a business interest or out-of-state real property. Sunset can connect families to a vetted New Jersey probate attorney serving Cumberland County.

Find the accounts and assets. Sunset searches more than 2,300 financial institutions and public records to surface bank and credit-union accounts, retirement plans, brokerage holdings, life insurance, Cumberland County real estate, and unclaimed property, so the Surrogate's Information Sheet is complete before you qualify.

Generate the probate packet. For estate settlement, Sunset assembles the Cumberland County Surrogate's Information Sheet, the Notice of Probate and Proof of Mailing, the Refunding Bond and Release, and the supporting paperwork for your path, ready to bring to your appointment.

Find a local probate attorney. When a matter is contested or otherwise calls for counsel, Sunset connects families to a vetted New Jersey probate attorney serving Cumberland County.

Sunset is free for families. Revenue comes from bank partners that pay Sunset while estate funds sit in an FDIC-insured estate account ($3M coverage).