New Jersey Legal Calculators

New Jersey executor commissions follow a statutory schedule under N.J.S.A. 3B:18-14: 6% on all income earned by the estate, 5% on the first $200,000 of the estate corpus, 3.5% on the next $800,000 (corpus between $200K and $1M), and 2% on corpus above $1M. Note the distinction between income and corpus—interest, dividends, and rental income are all subject to the 6% income rate, separate from the tiered corpus rate. On a $1M estate that earned $30,000 during administration, that's $1,800 on income plus $38,500 on corpus, totaling about $40,300 in executor fees before attorney fees.

New Jersey repealed its estate tax in 2018, but it remains one of only six states that still imposes an inheritance tax—a tax on the beneficiary's receipt of assets, not on the estate itself. Rates range from 11–16% depending on the beneficiary's relationship to the decedent, with direct descendants exempt but siblings, nieces, nephews, and unrelated heirs paying meaningful taxes. An estate of $500,000 passing to a sibling triggers $55,000–$80,000 in state inheritance tax. That combination—no estate tax but a live inheritance tax—makes New Jersey planning structurally different from almost every other state.

New Jersey is an equitable distribution state under N.J. Stat. § 2A:34-23.1. Divorce filing fees are $300–$325, among the lowest in this group despite the state's high cost of living. The state offers no homestead exemption for general judgment creditors—N.J. Stat. § 2A:17-19 provides a nominal $1,000 protection that's practically irrelevant at current home values. Personal injury claims must be filed within 2 years under N.J. Stat. § 2A:14-2.