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Current as of January 01, 2024 | Updated by Findlaw Staff
The “augmented estate” means the estate reduced by funeral and administration expenses, and enforceable claims, to which is added the sum of the following amounts:
a. The value of property transferred by the decedent at any time during marriage, to or for the benefit of any person other than the surviving spouse, to the extent that the decedent did not receive adequate and full consideration in money or money's worth for the transfer, if the transfer is of any of the following types:
(1) Any transfer hereafter made under which the decedent retained at the time of his death the possession or enjoyment of, or right to income from, the property;
(2) Any transfer hereafter made to the extent that the decedent retained at the time of his death a power, either alone or in conjunction with any other person, to revoke or to consume, invade or dispose of the principal for his own benefit;
(3) Any transfer hereafter made whereby property is held at the time of decedent's death by decedent and another with right of survivorship;
(4) Any transfer hereafter made, if made within 2 years of death of the decedent, to the extent that the aggregate transfers to any one donee in either of the years exceed $3,000.00.
Any transfer is excluded if made with the written consent or joinder of the surviving spouse. Property is valued as of the decedent's death except that property given irrevocably to a donee during lifetime of the decedent is valued as of the date the donee came into possession or enjoyment if that occurs first. Nothing herein shall cause to be included in the augmented estate any life insurance, accident insurance, joint annuity, or pension payable to a person other than the surviving spouse.
b. (1) The value of property owned by the surviving spouse at the time of, or as a result of, the decedent's death to the extent that the property is derived from the decedent by means other than by testate or intestate succession without a full consideration in money or money's worth.
(2) The value of the property described in subsection b.(1) of this section 2. which has been transferred by the surviving spouse at any time during marriage without a full consideration in money or money's worth to any person other than the decedent which would have been includable in the spouse's augmented estate if the surviving spouse had predeceased the decedent.
(3) For the purposes of subsections b.(1) and b.(2):
(a) Property derived from the decedent includes, but is not limited to, any beneficial interest of the surviving spouse in a trust created by the decedent during his lifetime, any property appointed to the spouse by the decedent's exercise of a general or special power of appointment also exercisable in favor of others than the spouse, any proceeds of insurance (including accidental death benefits on the life of the decedent attributable to premiums paid by him, any lump sum immediately payable and the commuted value of the proceeds of annuity contracts under which the decedent was the primary annuitant attributable to premiums paid by him, the commuted value of amounts payable after the decedent's death under any public or private pension, disability compensation, death benefit or retirement plan, exclusive of the Federal Social Security system, by reason of service performed or disabilities incurred by the decedent, the value of the share of the surviving spouse resulting from rights in community property acquired in any other state formerly owned with the decedent and the value of any rights of dower and curtesy. Premiums paid by the decedent's employer, his partner, a partnership of which he was a member, or his creditors, are deemed to have been paid by the decedent.
(b) Property owned by the spouse at the decedent's death is valued as of the date of death. Property transferred by the spouse is valued at the time the transfer became irrevocable, or at the decedent's death, whichever occurred first. Income earned by included property prior to the decedent's death is not treated as property derived from the decedent.
(c) Property owned by the surviving spouse as of the decedent's death, or previously transferred by the surviving spouse, is presumed to have been derived from the decedent except to the extent that any party in interest establishes that it was derived from another source.
Cite this article: FindLaw.com - New Jersey Statutes Appendix - Former Title 3A Administration of Estates Decedents and Others 3A § 38A-2 - last updated January 01, 2024 | https://codes.findlaw.com/nj/appendix-former-title-3a-administration-of-estates-decedents-and-others/nj-st-sect-3a-38a-2/
FindLaw Codes may not reflect the most recent version of the law in your jurisdiction. Please verify the status of the code you are researching with the state legislature before relying on it for your legal needs.
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