When a Testamentary Trust needs to be set up, the named Trustee under the Will must sign an Acceptance of Testamentary Trusteeship and an Authorization To Accept Service of Process (Power of Attorney).  The Surrogate, prior to preparing the forms will need:  1) the name and residing address of the named Trustee and 2) names and addresses of the beneficiaries and their interest under the Testamentary Trust 3) Article under which the Testamentary Trust appears and 4) the title of the Testamentary Trust.  The Surrogate will issue Letters of Trusteeship and a Trustee Short Certificate.  This will allow the Trustee to establish a Trust per terms of the Will.  The fee to establish the Trust with one Trustee Short Certificate is $ 55.00. 

A Substitute Trustee occurs when the first appointed Trustee dies or resigns or is removed before completing his/her duties as Trustee, as required.  This action must be brought to the Superior Court Probate Part.  The papers are filed with the Surrogate’s Court in the County of original procedure.  After the Superior Court Probate Part enters a Judgment appointing a Substitute Trustee, the appointed Substitute Trustee must go to the Surrogate’s Court to sign an Acceptance of Substitute Trusteeship and an Authorization To Accept Service of Process (Power of Attorney). The Surrogate will issue Letters of Substitute Trusteeship and a Substitute Trustee Short Certificate.

When a minor child inherits funds and there is no Testamentary Trust in the Will or there was no Will, the parent or guardian of a minor child or other minor beneficiary can apply to the Superior Court for permission to place funds from the estate into a trust for a minor that authorizes the delayed distribution of money.  After the Court approves the application for the trust, the funds would be placed in a trust and the trust assets would be used for the beneficiary’s health, support, maintenance and education, in the discretion of the trustees.  The beneficiary of this trust could receive periodic distributions of only portions of the principal upon reaching certain ages as specified in the law P.L. 2003, c.258 or at such other ages as the court determines. The filing fee for the Verified Complaint and Order To Show Cause is $ 175.00

           The law also provides that a court may allow any award from the federal “September 11^th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001” to be the subject of a trust regardless of whether such an award is found to pass to a minor issue of the decedent pursuant to N.J.S.A.3B:5-4 or otherwise.