New Jersey Inheritance Tax Waivers: L-8, L-9, IT-R and Form 0-1

Why the bank froze the account

New Jersey taxes what each beneficiary receives, at a rate set by their relationship to the person who died. Until the tax is settled, the state has a claim on the person's New Jersey assets. That is why New Jersey property such as real estate in the state, New Jersey bank and brokerage accounts, stock in New Jersey companies and New Jersey bonds cannot be transferred or released without the written consent of the Director of the Division of Taxation. That consent is the tax waiver, Form 0-1. Only the Division issues it, one per asset.

You don't always need a 0-1. The forms below either stand in for it (the L-8) or ask the Division for it (the L-9, the L-4 and a full return). A few rules help while you sort that out:

• The 50% rule. Before any waiver arrives, a bank or similar institution may release up to 50% of the funds on hand, and only to the executor, administrator or a surviving joint owner. It does not apply to stocks or bonds. You still report the full date-of-death balance on any return.
• Paying the tax from a frozen account. A bank must honor a check written from the account to pay the New Jersey inheritance tax, without a waiver, if the funds are there.
• No waiver needed for cars and other vehicles, household goods, personal effects, accrued wages, mortgages owed to the person, or stocks and bonds of companies outside New Jersey. If a return is required, you still list them on it.
• Safe deposit boxes. The Division no longer inventories them, so the bank can release the contents without a state inspection.

New Jersey's estate tax was repealed for deaths on or after January 1, 2018, so for a 2026 death the only state tax in play is the inheritance tax. If you want a dollar figure for each heir, use the New Jersey inheritance tax calculator.

Which form do I need?

Answer four questions, or read the table below. When you decide who inherits, count every way property passed, not just the will: joint accounts, payable-on-death (POD) and transfer-on-death (TOD) designations, the intestacy rules if there was no will, and gifts made in the 3 years before death.

The order of the questions matters, and it follows the Division's own flowchart for deaths on or after January 1, 2018. First, does anything pass by a disclaimer? If yes, file an IT-R. Next, are all beneficiaries Class A? If not, file an IT-R. Next, does anything pass into or through a trust? If yes, the L-4 is the route when every trust beneficiary is Class A; otherwise an IT-R. Only when all three answers point the right way do you reach the L-8 and L-9.

Who is Class A, C, D and E

The class decides both the tax and which form you can use.

• Class A also includes great-grandchildren and other descendants, grandparents, legally adopted children, and a domestic partner (for deaths on or after July 10, 2004). It does not include step-grandchildren, who are Class D.
• Class C brackets apply per beneficiary: the first $25,000 is untaxed, then 11% on the next $1,075,000, 13% on the next $300,000, 14% on the next $300,000, and 16% above $1,700,000.
• Class D is anyone not in another class, including ex-spouses. A Class D beneficiary who receives $499 or less in total owes nothing; at $500 or more the whole amount is taxed.
• Class E (charities, religious and educational institutions, the State and its municipalities) owes no tax, but a Class E beneficiary still means you file a full return.
• Exempt no matter who receives it: life insurance paid to a named beneficiary, and death payments from the NJ state pension systems (TPAF, PERS and PFRS).

Form L-8, step by step

The L-8 is an "Affidavit for Self-Executing Waiver." Once a bank or brokerage accepts it, it works like a waiver, with no wait for the Division.

1. Check that you qualify. Every asset must pass to Class A beneficiaries, and nothing can pass into or through a trust that decides how it is distributed, or by disclaimer. A gift to a minor held "in trust" until a stated age generally does not count as a trust here.
2. Check the assets. The L-8 covers New Jersey bank accounts, stock in New Jersey corporations, brokerage accounts and New Jersey investment bonds. It can never be used for real estate.
3. Decide who signs. The executor, the administrator, a surviving Class A joint owner, or a Class A POD beneficiary of the account.
4. Fill in one form per institution. List each account with how it is registered (for example, a joint account or "POD to" a named person). Assets that pass to a joint owner or POD beneficiary pass by law, so the bank does not need the will for those.
5. Sign in front of a notary. The signature must be notarized.
6. Give it to the bank or brokerage. Do not mail it to the Division. The institution completes its part, files the original with the Division within five business days, and gives you a copy.

Call the bank's estate or bereavement team first. Some have their own claim forms and will want a death certificate and your letters testamentary or of administration along with the L-8.

Form L-9, step by step

The L-9 is an "Affidavit for Resident Decedent Requesting Real Property Tax Waiver(s)." It is not a waiver itself. It asks the Division to issue the 0-1 waiver for New Jersey real estate. Use the current version (rev. 9/22) for deaths on or after January 1, 2018; the older L-9(A) is for earlier deaths.

1. Check that you qualify. All beneficiaries must be Class A and no New Jersey inheritance or estate tax can be due. You can't use it if any asset worth $500 or more goes to someone outside Class A, or if a mutually acknowledged child relationship is claimed. If there is a trust, or the will creates one, the Division may ask for a full return instead.
2. Skip it for tenancy by the entirety. A home owned with a spouse or civil union partner as tenants by the entirety needs no waiver, and the Division will not issue one.
3. Decide who signs. The executor, the administrator, or a joint owner of the property. The form is sworn before a notary.
4. Gather the attachments. A copy of the deed; the will, codicils and any trust agreements; the letters testamentary or of administration; and the death certificate. An incomplete form, or one missing attachments, is sent back.
5. Mail it to the Division, not the County Clerk. By regular mail or USPS Express Mail: NJ Division of Taxation, Transfer Inheritance Tax, PO Box 249, Trenton, NJ 08695-0249. By UPS, FedEx or another private carrier: the same name and PO Box 249, 3 John Fitch Way, 6th Floor, Trenton, NJ 08611.
6. Give the waiver to the title company. When the Division sends the real property waiver, give it to the title company or attorney handling the sale or transfer.

When you need a full IT-R return

File the Resident Inheritance Tax Return, Form IT-R, when any asset passes to a Class C, D or E beneficiary, a mutually acknowledged child or a trust, or when anything passes by disclaimer. That includes property that passes outside the will, such as a joint account with a sister or a brokerage account that is TOD to a nephew.

Who signs and what it covers

The estate's legal representative (the executor, the administrator or an heir-at-law) signs the return in front of a notary. An attorney cannot sign it for them. Report every transfer, including those to exempt Class A beneficiaries, at fair market value on the date of death, not the date you file. The return has schedules for New Jersey real estate (A), closely held businesses (B), bank accounts (B-1), stocks (B-2), bonds (B-3), other property (B-4), transfers before death (C) and deductions (D).

Deductions on Schedule D include funeral costs; Surrogate's Court probate fees and bond costs; reasonable fees of a New Jersey attorney, CPA or enrolled agent for the return; executor commissions up to the legal maximum; mortgages on the reported New Jersey real estate; and debts owed at death, such as final bills and loans. Costs that arise after death, like property taxes, utilities and upkeep, are not deductible, and neither are medical bills that insurance will pay.

The 8-month deadline and interest

The tax is due within 8 months of the date of death. A death on March 10 is due November 10. If the due month has no matching day, the return is due on the first day of the next month: a death on January 31 is due October 1.

Interest of 10% a year runs on any tax paid after that date. Form IT-EXT extends only the time to file, not to pay, so if the return will be late, send an estimated payment by the due date. Make checks payable to "NJ Inheritance Tax" and write the person's name and Social Security number on the check. The return is filed on paper, at the same PO Box 249 addresses as the L-9. Online payment by e-check or card is available once the Division has set up an account for the estate; call the Inheritance and Estate Tax hotline at 609-292-5033 to ask for one.

Getting waivers after you file

The return is how you ask for waivers. After it reviews the return, the Division issues a Form 0-1 waiver for each New Jersey asset, but not until the tax is paid or provided for. Each bank-account waiver has to show the full date-of-death balance and how the account was registered (for example, POD to a named person), so list them exactly as the bank statement does. If you find an asset after filing, the Division asks for a supplemental affidavit with its date-of-death value and supporting papers.

If you can't finish the return yet but need assets released, Form L-4 asks for preliminary waivers. Attach the will, codicils, trust documents and any disclaimers, list every beneficiary, and for a taxable estate the Division recommends sending an estimated payment with it. An L-4 does not guarantee any waiver.

If the person lived outside New Jersey

For a person who legally lived in another state, New Jersey taxes only property located in New Jersey, which is usually real estate. New Jersey does not require waivers for a nonresident's bank accounts, brokerage accounts or other intangibles. New Jersey real estate still needs a waiver: if every beneficiary is Class A and no tax is due, request it on Form L-9NR; otherwise file the nonresident return, Form IT-NR. The heirs' own state of residence does not change any of this.

How long waivers take

• L-8: no wait for the state. It takes as long as the bank's own estate process.
• L-9: the Division says the waiver is issued promptly when the form is complete and in order. It does not publish a number of days.
• IT-R: the Division tells executors to plan on at least several months after filing. Returns are handled in the order received, about 40 to 50% are audited, and an audit can add several more months. Payments are usually posted within two weeks.

Use the 50% rule to cover funeral bills and the tax payment while you wait, and tell any buyer's attorney early that the closing depends on the real property waiver.

Common mistakes that delay waivers

• Using an L-8 when a sibling, niece, nephew or in-law is a joint owner or POD beneficiary on any account.
• Mailing the L-8 to the Division, or the L-9 to the County Clerk.
• Sending an L-9 without the deed, will, letters or death certificate copy.
• Treating a step-grandchild as Class A.
• Forgetting that a charity in the will means a full return, even though the charity owes nothing.
• Leaving out gifts made in the 3 years before death. They are presumed made in contemplation of death and go on Schedule C.
• Valuing assets on the filing date instead of the date of death.
• Assuming an IT-EXT extension stops interest. It does not.

Next steps

• Estimate each heir's New Jersey inheritance tax
• New Jersey estate and inheritance tax overview
• Executor checklist: what to do when someone dies