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Terms Used In New Jersey Statutes 3B:3-2.1

  • Decedent: A deceased person.
  • Estate: means all of the property of a decedent, minor or incapacitated individual, trust or other person whose affairs are subject to this title as the property is originally constituted and as it exists from time to time during administration. See New Jersey Statutes 3B:1-1
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Heirs: means those persons, including, but not limited to, the surviving spouse, the domestic partner and the descendants of the decedent, who are entitled under the statutes of intestate succession to the property of a decedent. See New Jersey Statutes 3B:1-1
  • person: includes corporations, companies, associations, societies, firms, partnerships and joint stock companies as well as individuals, unless restricted by the context to an individual as distinguished from a corporate entity or specifically restricted to one or some of the above enumerated synonyms and, when used to designate the owner of property which may be the subject of an offense, includes this State, the United States, any other State of the United States as defined infra and any foreign country or government lawfully owning or possessing property within this State. See New Jersey Statutes 1:1-2
  • State: extends to and includes any State, territory or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia and the Canal Zone. See New Jersey Statutes 1:1-2
  • Testator: A male person who leaves a will at death.
1. a. The Secretary of State shall create and maintain a will registry in which a testator or his attorney may register information regarding the testator’s will. The information contained in such registry shall include the name of the person making the will, the date the will was made, and sufficient identification of the location of the will at the time of registration. The registry shall not contain a copy of the will.

b. The fee for registration of a will shall be $10.00, which shall be deposited by the Secretary of State in the General Fund.

c. The existence or nonexistence of a registration for a particular will shall not be considered as evidence in any proceeding relating to such will, and the failure to file information about a will in the will registry shall not be a factor in determining the validity of the will.

d. The fee for application to the Secretary of State to conduct a search of the registry shall be $10.00, which shall be deposited by the Secretary of State in the General Fund. Only interested persons and their representatives may conduct a search of the registry. As used in this act, “interested persons” means children, spouses, potential heirs, devisees, fiduciaries, creditors, beneficiaries and any others having a property right in or claim against a trust estate or the estate of a decedent which may be affected by the proceeding.

e. The Secretary of State shall not be liable for the accuracy of the representation of the person conducting a search of the registry or for the accuracy of the information contained in the registry.

L.2005,c.97,s.1.