Passaic County, NJ Probate Information

The most common Passaic County probate mistake is booking the appointment before the family understands the inheritance-tax exposure. New Jersey taxes transfers by the beneficiary's relationship class, not the size of the estate, and a financial institution may release no more than 50% of a bank balance until a waiver clears (N.J.A.C. 18:26-11.16). Executors who arrive prepared only for the Surrogate fee schedule are often unprepared for the waiver workflow that follows, which holds up the release of accounts and the transfer of real estate.

Before your appointment, identify every bank account, brokerage and retirement account, life insurance policy, business interest, and parcel of Passaic County real estate, along with every debt, and identify each beneficiary by name and inheritance-tax class. Only then can you anticipate the waiver steps, calculate the right Surrogate fees, and decide whether counsel is needed. Sunset's asset-discovery work, searching more than 2,300 financial institutions, exists for this step.

The Passaic County Surrogate's Court in Paterson serves the entire county, including Paterson, Clifton, Passaic City, Wayne, West Milford, Hawthorne, Totowa, Little Falls, Woodland Park, Pompton Lakes, Ringwood, Bloomingdale, Haledon, North Haledon, Prospect Park, and Wanaque. Every uncontested Passaic probate and intestate administration is handled at the office at 71 Hamilton Street, Room 101 (entered through 77 Hamilton Street), or at one of the Surrogate's rotating evening night-court sessions held in towns across the county. Venue lies in the county where the decedent was domiciled at death (R. 4:80-1(c)); if the decedent lived outside New Jersey but owned Passaic County real estate, the estate proceeds here by ancillary administration.

Contested matters do not stay with the Surrogate. A caveat filed at the Surrogate's office, a will contest, a demand for a formal accounting, or removal of a fiduciary routes the matter to the Superior Court of New Jersey, Chancery Division, Probate Part, in the Passaic vicinage at the Passaic County Courthouse, 77 Hamilton Street, Paterson. The Surrogate also serves as Deputy Clerk of the Superior Court, Chancery Division, Probate Part, and is the procedural gateway to Chancery for those filings.

Appointment-only intake, scheduled online. The Passaic Surrogate handles all matters by appointment. Book online through the Appointments/Night Court page on the Surrogate's website before you come; walk-ins are not the practice. Call (973) 881-4760 with questions.

Evening night court that rotates through the county. The Surrogate holds evening night-court sessions, generally Tuesday evenings from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., that rotate through municipalities across Passaic County (recent sites have included West Milford, Clifton, Hawthorne, Wayne, Totowa, and Paterson). Sessions are by appointment and are canceled on legal holidays or in severe weather; check the current schedule on the Surrogate's site.

Enter through 77 Hamilton Street. The office of record is 71 Hamilton Street, Room 101, but the 71 Hamilton Street entrance is closed. Visitors enter the building through 77 Hamilton Street, which is also the Passaic County Courthouse address for Superior Court matters.

Cash or check only. The Passaic Surrogate does not accept credit cards. Bring cash or a check payable to Passaic County Surrogate Court for the filing fee and any short certificates.

The original will stays with the Surrogate. The Surrogate keeps the original will after probate; copies submitted are filed or returned. The executor receives short certificates to present to banks and other institutions, and works from a copy.

Banks may release up to half before a waiver clears. A New Jersey financial institution may release up to 50% of a bank account or CD to the survivor or estate representative without the Director's consent (N.J.A.C. 18:26-11.16). The rest waits for a waiver: an L-8 self-executing waiver goes straight to the institution for Class A beneficiaries, while an O-1 waiver from the Division of Taxation is needed when L-8 does not apply. This is the most common practical bottleneck in Passaic estates.

Passaic real estate needs a recorded tax waiver. Before Paterson, Clifton, Wayne, or other Passaic County real estate can be conveyed, a Class A L-9 waiver (or an O-1 for other classes) must be recorded with the Passaic County Clerk's Registry Division at 401 Grand Street, Room 113, Paterson. The Surrogate does not issue tax waivers; they come from the New Jersey Division of Taxation.

A Passaic County attorney is advisable when a caveat is filed and the matter moves to Chancery, where counsel is effectively required; when Class C or Class D beneficiaries owe inheritance tax and a return with valuations and elections is needed; when the estate is insolvent or close to it; when Passaic real estate must be sold and a complicated O-1 waiver is involved; when a will is ambiguous or an accounting is demanded; or when ancillary administration is required for a non-resident decedent who owned Passaic property. For uncontested, Class A-only probate at an appointment, the affidavit-in-lieu paths, and straightforward administrations, most Passaic families complete the Surrogate intake without an attorney. Sunset can connect families to a vetted Passaic County probate attorney when the situation requires counsel.

Find the accounts and assets. Sunset searches more than 2,300 financial institutions and Passaic County public records to surface bank accounts, retirement plans, brokerage holdings, life insurance, Passaic real estate, business interests, and unclaimed property, and flags beneficiary classes early to anticipate inheritance-tax exposure.

Generate the probate packet. Sunset assembles the Passaic Surrogate intake packet for estate settlement: the application for probate or administration with its supporting affidavits, the Notice of Probate and Proof of Mailing, Refunding Bond and Release templates, and the L-8, L-9, and O-1 waiver forms families need after qualifying.

Find a local probate attorney. When the situation calls for counsel, a caveat, a Chancery matter, a Class C or D inheritance-tax filing, or a Passaic real-estate sale, Sunset connects families to a vetted Passaic County probate attorney.

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).