4:80-1. Application
(a) Contents. Unless a complaint for probate is filed with the Superior Court pursuant to R. 4:83, an application for the probate of a will, for letters testamentary, letters of administration, letters of administration of non-resident estates in which administration has not been sought in the decedent's state of residence, letters of administration with the will annexed, letters of administration ad prosequendum, letters of substitutionary administration and letters of substitutionary administration with the will annexed shall be filed with the Surrogate's Court, stating: (1) the applicant's residence; (2) the name and date of death of the decedent, his or her domicile at date of death and date of the last will, if any, of decedent; (3) the names and addresses of the spouse, heirs, next of kin and other persons, if any, entitled to letters, and their relationships to decedent, and, to the best of the applicant's knowledge and belief, identifying any of them whose names or addresses are unknown and stating further that there are no other heirs and next of kin; (4) the ages of any minor heirs or minor next of kin; and in an application for probate of a will, whether the testator had issue living when the will was made, and whether he or she left any child born or adopted thereafter or any issue of such after-born or adopted child, and the names of after-born or adopted children since the date of the will, or their issue, if any. The applicant shall verify under oath that the statements are true to the best of the applicant's knowledge and belief.
(b) Certificates, Affidavits Accompanying the Application. Except in an application for substitutionary letters, the application shall be accompanied by a certificate of death or other competent proof thereof, unless for good cause dispensed with; and in all applications where a bond is required of the person applying for letters, the application shall be accompanied by an affidavit of the value of the personal estate.
(c) Filing. The application for the probate of a will or for letters of administration shall be filed with the Surrogate's Court of the county in which the decedent was domiciled at death, or if at that time the decedent was not domiciled in this State, then with the Surrogate's Court of any county in which the decedent left any property or into which any property belonging to the decedent's estate may have come.
(d) Recording. The application shall be recorded by the Surrogate's Court.
